


My Neighbour's Brother

by Redgillan



Category: Marvel, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Reader-Interactive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-24 18:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6162553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redgillan/pseuds/Redgillan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the advice of one of his best friend, Thor asks his neighbour to be his pretend girlfriend. Reluctant at first, Y/n finally agrees to leave with him to meet his parents. Of course, things will not happen so smoothly. I hate summaries, the title says it all, folks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It’s all fun and games until someone has to pretend to be Jane Foster.

**Author's Note:**

> 2765 words. It took a little bit more time than I anticipated. I wanted to have the whole story figured out before posting it so here we go! No Loki in this chapter though. I hope you’ll enjoy that one! :D

You searched your bag desperately for your keys as you walked up the stairs. Your bag was filled with so many stuff, you groaned in frustration when you could not find them. The lights turned off, making it impossible for you to find anything, you groaned louder and heard a click. Suddenly the lights brightened the corridor, as someone turned them on. You turned around and saw your neighbour, Thor Odinson.

“Thanks.” You smiled as you knelt in front of your door to search through your bag. “Ah! Found you!” You screamed holding your keys above your head in a triumphant scream. You heard Thor unlock his own door and chuckled when he saw your victory pose.

“Good night, Y/n.” Thor chuckled. You reciprocated and entered your flat.

You kicked your high heels and took off your trousers to put something more comfortable. You went to the kitchen and found the leftovers from the day before in your fridge. You sat cross-legged on the sofa when someone knocked on the door. You whined, put the plate on the small table in front of you and stood up to open the door. You looked through the peephole, it was Thor.

“Sorry to disturb you but I have your mail.” He said, waving a pile of letters.

“Again? Seriously, someone’s gonna have to talk to the postman.” You replied, leaning against the door frame. You took your mail from his hands. “I’ll go check if I have your mail.” You replied and he nodded before he returned to his flat. You turned around to put your slippers on and clacked the door behind you.

You went downstairs to take your mail but realised that you forgot the key so you rushed back upstairs and tried to open your door but of course, the keys were inside.

“I’m so stupid.” You whispered to yourself as you visualised the moment when you left your flat and clacked the door behind you. Inside your flat, the television was still on and you could hear the loud giggles coming from the show that you were watching. In that moment, you felt like they were mocking you. With a resigned sigh, you turned around and knocked on Thor’s door.

“Do you have it?” He asked but soon noticed that your hands were empty. “You locked yourself out, didn’t you?” He grinned and turned around to take his keys. You nodded, giving him a small pout as he used his keys to close his door.

You followed him downstairs to see the caretaker but a note on the door said that he was unavailable until ten. Thor offered to give you shelter until then and you accepted.

When you entered his flat, you were surprised to see how tasteful it was. Every items had its place and the soft light in the living room made it very cosy. You saw Thor quite often, you saw him in the hall, or greeted each other after a long day at work and sometimes you even met him in the laundromat or in the supermarket. He was by far your favourite neighbour. However you never really talked, just exchanged some thoughts on current events while you waited for your laundry. He closed the door behind you and went to the kitchen to gather plates and glasses for two. You followed him and helped him set the table.

“I can’t believe we live in the same apartment building. You’re flat is so much better than mine.”

“My ex did all the work.” He said as he put his fork down. You remembered a small brunette who used to leave his flat very early in the morning. You greeted her in the hall more than once but you had no idea that they were not together anymore. You felt a bit uncomfortable, you wondered if he wanted to talk about it.

“I’ve kept it that way, it’s nice.” He said looking around as he drank the content of his glass.

“Yeah, it is.” You smiled.

“Do you have someone?” He asked very casually. You pressed your lips into a thin line to avoid grinning.

“Nope.” You answered not feeling this conversation at all. He returned his attention to you and smiled softly.

“I’m sure you’ll find a nice bloke.” He said, resting his elbows on the table. You nodded pensively, this was a bit uncomfortable. Thor was a nice man, for sure, he was strong and looked good but he was just your neighbour. “Hey, I have a friend who’s coming to town tomorrow. Do you want to go out with us? I swear he’s nice.”

“Are you trying to set me up with your friend? I don’t know about that.”

“Just come and drink something. Drinks on me.” He raised his glass.

At ten, you went downstairs and after the caretaker helped you with his master key, you took Thor’s mail from your box and returned home.

The next day you returned home after your work and completely forgot about Thor’s invitation. You were actually quite happy to have a night on your own until he knocked on your door and reminded you of your night out.

“You forgot?” He asked amused when he saw you with your slippers and messed up hair.

“Completely.” You winced. “Give me ten minutes.”

You closed the door, grabbed the first dress that you found, and quickly fixed your hair. When you were done you made sure to take your keys and closed the door behind you. You went downstairs were Thor and his blond friend were waiting for you. You were suddenly very nervous but the man greeted you nicely. You followed Thor and Fandral to a bar where you listened to some stories about Thor when he was younger. After a while, you excused yourself to go to the restroom.

“So, anything new?”

“My mother called.” Thor started and Fandral snorted. “She wants to meet my girlfriend, even said I _had_ to bring her with me for the holidays.”

“Why don’t you just tell her that you broke up?”

“Because she’d freak out. She wants me to marry a nice, respectable woman and I just don’t care. If I tell her that I broke up with Jane, she won’t stop nagging me.”

“Go with Y/n.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you pretend to be together. She plays the nice, respectable girl for a week and voilà… job’s done.”

“I can’t ask her that! I barely know her.”

“I would. She’s hot, you never know, you might even hook up with her.” Fandral nodded when he saw that you were coming back, ending the conversation with Thor.

You sat back on your seat and looked at the two men, you had a feeling that they were talking about something important.

“So what are you talking about?” You asked curiously. Thor looked at you like he was cut short, not knowing what to say. He replied the first thing that came to his mind.

“My brother.” He answered in panic.

“Oh yeah, the kid who used the pull the chair when you tried to sit down?” You asked and heard Fandral snort.

“Your brother was a real pain in the ass.” Fandral said after he sipped his drink. Thor nodded pensively. “He still is, to be honest.” He laughed as he finished his drink.

“He’s a bit… different.” Thor tried to take his brother’s side even if the man was not in the room.

“Well, from what I heard today, he sounds lovely.” You smirked and Fandral almost spilled his drink in Thor’s face.

“You need to bear with him. He can be _lovely_ when he wants to.” Thor rolled his eyes as he glared at Fandral.

“Yeah, the problem is,” Fandral leaned closer to you and smiled. “he rarely wants to.” You didn’t know the man, but from what you understood, he was not the nicest person. You didn’t laugh though, Thor looked dead serious and you thought that he had enough.

When the night ended, you said your goodbyes to Fandral who flirted with you all night. He was nice but a bit pushy, you saw him coming from a mile away. You were walking with Thor back to your flat when he asked you something that you didn’t see coming at all.

“You want to take me on a holiday to meet your parents?” You recapitulated completely baffled.

“Just so you can pretend to be my girlfriend.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s crazy, why don’t you just tell your mother that you’re not seeing Jane anymore.”

“She’d freak out. My father would be thrilled, but my mother, she’d be on my back all week.” He stopped and held your shoulder which made you stop as well. “I know you work hard and the other day, in the laundromat, you told me you wanted to go on holidays. Here you have the opportunity to spend the following week in a very nice place, near the sea. You wouldn’t have to pay for anything, everything’s on me. The only thing I’m asking in return, is that you pretend to be my girlfriend.” He put his hands together in a silent prayer.

You crossed your arms, it was a tempting offer. A week off with nothing to pay for that would be the ideal holiday but on the other hand if anything went wrong, your perfect week would turn into a nightmare.

“I… really, I don’t know.”

“Just think about it, okay? I’m leaving in two days.”

You nodded and entered your apartment building. You left Thor in front of his flat and hurriedly entered yours.

The next day you came back to your flat, your heel in one hand as you limped with a broken shoe. That day you arrived at work late because you overslept, one of your co-worker ate your lunch so you had to go out to order something and pay what felt like a million pounds for a sandwich. During the meeting, you dropped your coffee on your white blouse and to finish in a great bang, you broke your heel when you ran after the train. You barely caught it in time but ten minutes later, an electric failure stuck you in a tunnel for more than an hour. The staff asked the people in the carriage to exit the train and follow them to leave the station safely. As a result, you had to limp all the way to your flat. You were almost home, practically crying with joy as the day finally ended when the strap of your bag broke and spread the content on the floor.

You dropped your broken bag in front of your door and tried to look for your keys but after a while you understood that you must have lost your keys somewhere across the streets. You sat on the floor, tired and miffed when Thor came back from his work.

“Hard day?” He asked when he saw you sitting on the floor.

“The hardest.” You mumbled.

He bent down to help you gather your things and miraculously found the silver key. You were so happy to find them that you almost burst into tears. You quickly opened the door and threw all the broken items on the floor of your flat. Thor was opening his door when you turned around, you bit your lower lip, thinking that you were about to take a really bad decision. You sighed and stopped him before he could close his door.

“I’ll come with you.” You said without warning. It took him a second or two to understand what you were talking about and then his face lit up with joy.

“You’re not messing with me, are you?”

“No, I think I really _really_ need a week off. Especially after today.”

“That is… absolutely amazing! Thank you!” He took you in his arms and your feet left the ground. You hiccuped in surprised and smiled when he put you back on your feet.

“Yeah, well we have to talk about the rules. Just so we’re clear, I’m not going to kiss you and realised that you’re the man I’ve always been looking for.” You said, putting your hand to your forehead in a theatrical way.

“Obviously.” He laughed and nodded while you put your hands on your hips. “I’ll pay for everything, don’t worry about that. All you need to do is pretend that we’re in a relationship. My parents are pretty busy during the week so we’ll just see them during dinner.”

“Alright, I can do that. When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow night. I can’t stress how much this means to me. Thank you, Y/n!”

“No problem.” You said, turning on your bare feet to go back to your flat.

The next day, you went to work and sighed happily when your boss agreed to let you take a week off. The day was much better than the previous one but anything would have been better than your previous day. You came home, packed your bag for your holidays, and made sure to take your most presentable outfits. At nine, Thor knocked on your door and you followed him to his car. You threw your bag on the back seat and tried not to focus on the awkward tension in the car.

“So I should probably tell you about my family.” Thor said his hands gripping the wheel and his eyes stayed focus on the road.

“Probably. What should I know?”

“Okay first of all, my mother’s name is Frigga. She’s really into saving the world, eating vegan and stuff like that. Odin, that’s my father’s name,” He turned his head for a second to see if you were still following. “He runs a business that exploits the energy of the sun to produce electricity. He’s doing very well, like _very_ well. You’ll understand when you’ll see the house.”

You nodded but he was a bit fast and you wondered if you’d be able to remember everything.

“I should write that down.” You said and proceeded to grab a paper in your handbag but he stopped you.

“No, don’t! We have time, I’ll quiz you later.”

“Great.” You said sarcastically. Suddenly, this whole situation seemed like a giant mistake. Your holidays started to turn into the Big Fat Quiz of the Year. The only difference was that it involved knowing everything about strangers and being able to keep a straight face when Thor called you ‘honey’.

“Oh and my brother. I have to tell you about him. His name is Loki, I’m not sure you’ll see him much. He’s not really fond of people. But you’ll have to be careful, he’s very smart. He may see right through all our lies. It’s kind of his thing.”

“What? Pretending to be in a relationship with his neighbour?” You said with a smirk.

“No.” Thor rolled his eyes at your barb. “I meant lying. He’s good at it. Okay so what’s my mother’s name?”

“Gretta, she loves food and… gardening?” You tried to remember. Thor laughed at your poor memory and repeated until you remembered it.

After a while, he asked you again. “What’s my mother’s name?”

“Frigga, vegan, saving world.” You said, using only short words. “Father, Odin, business, electricity, money.” You continued, using only basic adjectives to describe the patriarch. “Brother, Loki, liar, asocial.”

“Well, asocial is a bit much. He’s more of a-”

“Hey, if I need to remember everything by tomorrow, he’s an asocial.” You said warning him with your pointer finger.

“Actually, I’m not even sure you’ll need that kind of information.”

“Good, I’ll erase that from my memory then.” You said, pretending to use an imaginary eraser. “Can I keep my name or did you tell your family about Jane?”

“No, you can keep your name. But you’re an astronomer, that’s the only thing I told them about Jane.

“You told them her job before her name? Wait, what… I don’t know anything about astronomy!” You took your phone out of your pocket and searched some information on the subject.

“Relax! They won’t ask you to do a lecture.” He chuckled. “You should take some rest. We’ll see about what you remember when you’ll wake up.

You tried to keep your sighs to yourself and sunk back into your seat as you tried to relax. You shifted in your seat, trying to shake the guilt and embarrassment of this situation. About an hour later, you finally fell asleep while Thor drank his coffee, his eyes still focused on the road.


	2. Saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2964 words. Here we go, meet the lovely Odinson family! Thank you for you feedback that was highly appreciated, I hope I won't disappoint you guys! Enjoy!

The next day you woke up in the car, an aching pain in your back and legs. You tried to stretch but your feet already touched the dash. You looked to your right and smelled the delicious scent of freshly baked muffins.

“It’s for you. Orange juice and muffin. I would have taken a coffee or tea but I was afraid that it’d be cold by the time you wake up.” Thor said, still focused on the road.

“Thanks!” You said and took the brown bag from the dashboard.

“While you eat, let’s recap.” Thor said and you noticed he was leaving the motorway. “We’ll be there in about an hour. Mother?”

You took a bite of your food with an exasperated roll of your eyes. You remembered pretty much everything about his family and he seemed relieved. After an hour or so, Thor parked in a hallway in front of a gigantic house. The house had solar panels and sun powered lamps that would light up the path at night.

You opened the door and jumped out of the car, under your feet the white gravel crunched as you finally managed to stretch properly. Thor took the bags out of the car and started to walk towards the house. The front door opened to reveal a slim woman with dirty blond hair tied up in a messy bun. She waved at you and you suddenly felt really uncomfortable. You repeated her name in your head, knowing that it was Thor’s mother.

“Thor, honey, why don’t you park in the garage?” She said with a frown once she noticed the not so eco-friendly car in the driveway.

“I will, mum.” He replied with an annoyed sighed. “This is Y/n.” He pushed you forward to distract his mother.

“Your girlfriend, of course! My dear, I’ve been dying to meet you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” You smiled and shook her hand.

“I hope so!” Frigga replied in a high pitched voice. “I can’t believe that it took you almost a year to meet our family. He really wanted to keep you for himself. Come in, you must be tired.”

“I feel just fine, I’ve slept all night in the car. But I could use a shower.” You said with a forced laugh.

You followed Frigga inside the house and took your bag from Thor’s hand. When she opened the front door, you stepped into the living room. The plain looking exterior of the house contrasted dramatically with the exuberant furniture that furnished the living room. A dinner table was placed directly on your right. Further away, you could see a television and some sofas, guest rooms and a library. Directly in front of you, there was a staircase that led to a second floor. Thor left his bag on the dinner table and looked at the shoes left near the front door.

“Is Loki here?”

“Yes, he arrived last night.” Frigga said from the kitchen. “Tea or coffee?” She asked, searching the cupboards.

“I’m gonna take a nap. I drove all night.” Thor emphasised it with a long and loud yawn as he took his bag and climbed the stairs, he gestured for you to follow him.

“Take the room on the right.” Frigga said, peeping her head into the corridor.

“He took the large bedroom?” Thor stopped mid-step and turned around. There was exasperation in his voice. “He’s alone, why does he need the large bedroom?”

“You know the rules: first-come, first-served.”

Thor grumbled something and his mother clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. He climbed the stairs like an angry child and seemed to forget that you were still following him. The second floor had two bedrooms, a bathroom that was placed in between and an office that had no door. You entered the room on the right and closed the door.

The room was small and simple. Normally you wouldn’t mind but Thor was a big man and the bed seemed to be rather small for two. There were two drawers, one in front of the bed and another one on the left side of the bed. A large French window gave a great view on the garden.

“You can put your things in that drawer, I’ll take the one near the door.” Thor said throwing his bag near the bedside table. “I’m sorry, I really need to sleep.”

“No it’s fine, I mean, you drove all night.” You dismissed his concern and searched your bag for fresh clothes. “Before you fall asleep, hum… bathroom?”

“When you leave this room, first door on your right.” He said leaning against the frame to show you the right door.

You left him alone and entered the bathroom. It was nice and luxury, like everything else in the house. A bathtub was near the door in front of a mirror and a sink. You closed the door behind you and tried to understand how the shower worked. When you were done, you changed into something more presentable. You were a bit nervous to be left alone with these strangers, you took a deep breath and left the bathroom.

You were about to go downstairs when you heard Thor’s loud snores coming from the bedroom. You opened the door and looked at his sleepy form under the sheets and sighed, he took the entire bed with his long limbs. If you still believed that this was going to be a nice week off, the sight before you proved you wrong.

You closed the bedroom door carefully and returned downstairs. At the same time, the other bedroom door opened and revealed a tall lean man with raven black hair. He was wearing a tight dark green t-shirt and black sweatpants. You were a bit startled but you still raised your hand to greet him. Instead of reciprocated, he looked at you from head to toe and snorted before he passed you on the stairs. You stood there feeling a bit ashamed and confused.

Shaking the feeling, you went downstairs and entered the kitchen. Frigga was looking through the window, her back was facing you and Loki was sitting at the table, making tea. He didn’t even raised his head when you entered the kitchen but when you dragged a chair, Frigga turned and smiled at you.

“Did you find everything you needed?” She asked, placing an empty cup in front of you.

You took the half-filled kettle and poured some water into your mug. You looked around to find the tea when Loki, still avoiding your eyes, raised a finger and tapped a wooden box next to him. You tried not to laugh at his condescending attitude and open the box to choose from the large selection of tea.

“Yes everything’s good. You have a beautiful house.” You put the mug to your lips.

“It is quite big, isn’t it? I would give you a tour of the house but I have a million things to do today.” She played pensively with her spoon. She snapped her fingers as if she unexpectedly found a solution to an inextricable problem. “Loki, you could give Y/n a tour of the house.”

“I-” Loki raised his head from his mug to protest but his mother cut him off.

“Good, he’s excited.” She said without a look to her youngest. “It’s important to get to know each other.” She turned around and left the kitchen to take her purse. She screamed goodbye and closed the front door behind her. Soon after that a noise from the garage indicated that the mother left the house.

The kitchen was silent, clearly Loki had no interest in you so you finished your tea rapidly. You were thinking of a place to stay while Thor was sleeping. You had no idea if his father was home and you had a feeling that his baby brother was not keen on spending time with you. He made you feel so uncomfortable that you didn’t want to stay with him anyway. You were so lost in your train of thought that you didn’t notice that he was standing in front of you.

“You’re coming?” He asked again with a roll of his eyes, annoyed that he had to repeat himself.

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“If I don’t, I’ll be in trouble. So come on, I don’t have all day.” He said sternly.

You stood up from your chair and followed him around the house. He showed you the laundry room and the garage that were joined to the kitchen. Odin’s office was behind the big staircase and the library was on the other side of it. The library’s door gave directly on the dinner table.

Upstairs, there were two bedrooms, the bathroom and the open office that was used by Frigga. The third floor was Frigga and Odin’s master suite.

“We don’t have to see that, I got it.” You didn’t want to invade the intimacy of their bedroom but Loki was already climbing the stairs so, reluctantly, you followed him.

Then, you followed him outside to see the garden and stables. He seemed to be dedicated to show you every single green patch of the estate and you followed him. He didn’t talk much, just the basics to tell you what the rooms where for.

“Is that all?” You asked sarcastically after a good two hours of strolling around the garden.

“Almost, we’ll finish with the lake.” He said, adjusting the sunglasses on his nose and put his hands in his pockets.

“What’s that?” You asked, pointing at the few houses that were visible through the trees.

“Neighbours.” He replied with a frown that was still perceptible even behind his sunglasses. “Don’t you have neighbours where you live?” He asked with a sufficient tone.

“Oh yeah, I do.” You smiled to yourself and his frown deepened when he couldn’t get why you laughed. “I thought those houses belonged to your family.” You said half joking.

He laughed at what he thought was a sarcastic remark and it sounded natural, not forced or sufficient like before. You turned to look at him, the rays of sunshine emphasised the green colour in his raven dark hair and his pale skin started to turn a bit red. The whiteness of his teeth sparkled in the sunlight. You looked at him completely entranced, a hand over your eyes to protect you from the sun.

“Are you alright?” He asked when he noticed that you were not following him anymore. He drew you back to reality, you shook your head quickly and tried to mask the embarrassment on your face.

“It’s the sun, sorry, I should have brought a hat.” You lied and placed your hand on the top of your head. It was not really a lie, your head was burning hot. He looked at you and shrugged before he continued to walk towards the lake.

When you returned back to the house and pushed the front door, it was after four in the afternoon. You were gone with the younger brother for more than four hours. You heard some noises in the kitchen and silently prayed to find Thor.

“Sup’” Thor said sitting at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich. You sat on a chair next to him and drummed your fingers on the table. Loki entered soon after and when he saw that Thor was back from his long nap, he leaned against the door.

“Good, you’re up.” He looked at his brother and back at you. “My work is done. It was nice meeting you.” He said and turned around to climb the stairs.

Thor rolled his eyes and returned his attention to you. He was about to apologise for Loki’s behaviour but the front door crashed opened and soon revealed an exhausted Frigga. You stoop up hastily to help her with the groceries.

“Thank you, I got carried away.” She said breathlessly. “I hope you like green beans and tofu.” She said excitedly as she opened the fridge. You turned to look at Thor who closed his eyes and shivered. You gave Frigga your best smile, though it was a bit forced. “Now, please leave the kitchen. You should enjoy the warm weather before the sun goes down.” She pushed you and Thor out of the kitchen and closed the door behind her.

“We need to talk.” You gestured for Thor to follow you upstairs.

Once you were in the room you sat on the bed. Thor closed the door behind him and looked at you, expecting the worst.

“I’ve seen you sleep, you literally take the entire bed. How are we going to fit together in this tiny bed?” You said, throwing your arms above your head. Thor laughed loudly and placed his hands on his hips, relieved that this was the only thing that bothered you.

“I’m going to talk to my brother. We’ll take the big room.”

“Good luck with that.” You sighed, knowing that the dark haired man would not give up his material advantage.

You laid on the bed and gazed at the ceiling, waiting for Thor. After a couple of minutes, Thor came back, looking all agitated and angry. He closed the door and almost broke the hinged. You sat straight on the bed, your palms resting flat against the sheets.

“Let me guess.” You said, crossing your legs. “He won’t give up the great room.”

“No.” Thor said, still furious. He tried to calm himself and rested his back on the wall, arms folded against his chest as he tried to find a solution. “I’ll sleep on the covers and you’ll sleep under the covers. If I’m taking too much space, just push me. I won’t mind.”

You laughed and agreed but you wondered if half-asleep Thor would be as considerate if you pushed him in the middle of the night. You unpacked properly and tried to take some rest until Frigga asked that everyone came downstairs for dinner.

When you arrived downstairs, Odin was already sitting at the table, holding a newspaper that covered his face. You walked slowly behind Thor and sat down next to him. Frigga arrived with a large bowl that contained a tofu salad that looked quite good, considering that it was probably the healthiest thing you had ever seen. She tapped her husband on the arm and asked him to put his newspaper down.

“You must be Thor’s fiancé.” He said when he noticed an unfamiliar face around the table. You stood up to greet him and introduced yourself.

“Girlfriend, dad. We’re not engaged.”

“Not yet.” Frigga said, squeezing your arm as she placed a bottle of water on the table. You smiled forcefully and looked at Thor with big eyes.

Loki’s arrival was not discreet, his heavy footsteps betrayed him right away. He said hello to his father and sat in front of you. Frigga sat next to Loki, in front of Thor while the head of the family presided the informal dinner. You ate the tofu salad without excitement but congratulated Frigga on her cooking skills. You could see that she was extremely pleased.

“Oh, thank you dear! I wish the boys thanked me more. I do everything here.”

“We not living here anymore, mother.” His fork moved a chunk of carrot around the plate.

“Still, you could be thankful to have a mother like me.” She said with a pointed look.

“How did you meet?” Odin asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject. You almost choked on your water, you didn’t expect to be quizzed right away.

“We…” You tried to remember what you agreed on, but your mind went blank. “We worked together.” You finally said.

“Aren’t you a space freak?” Loki asked, raising his eyebrow in a confused expression.

The whole family looked at you with interest, you gasped silently and cursed yourself in your head. Of course, you were an astrophysicist, or at least you had to pretend to be. Thor was working in marketing so it was unlikely that you two met at work.

“I guess you could put it that way. We met at a conference that gathered different specialities. I was leaving my conference and he was going to his. Love at first sight, right! We saw each other again at the cafeteria and met for coffee later. And, well, the rest is history.” You rambled fast but they all looked quite interested in your little story. Even Loki nodded, you repress a sigh of relief when the ‘Master of Lies’ believed your story.

You risked a look towards Thor who was pressing his lips into a thin line, nodding dreamily. You finished your dinner quickly and returned to your room. When Thor closed the door behind him, you started to apologise.

“I’m so sorry, I completely forgot about the story you told me to say. Do you think they bought it?”

“I think so. Don’t worry, I already put a lot of pressure on your shoulders. And you had a great story, I like it better than the one we agreed on.”

“What was that again?”

“That we saw each other at a party hosted by mutual friends.” He smirked at the simplicity of the story.

“Oh, yeah.” You bit your lips. “It was an easier one.” You chuckled.

You slipped under the covers and waited for Thor to turn off the lights. The bed sunk a bit when he jumped on it. You tried to fall asleep but Thor’s arms and legs kept hitting you, making it hard for you to sleep. You pushed him but it only made things worse. It was going to be a hell of a night, and a very weird week.


	3. Sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2690 words. It's picnic time with the Odinson.

On Sunday morning, Thor woke up early and went for a jog. Everyone was still asleep when Thor left the house. It was soon after dawn and the sky was still dressed with its orange and red apparel. He ran at a slow pace when he noticed someone running in front of him. He accelerated to catch up with the jogger, he was close enough to see a brown ponytail swaying in time with each stride.

“Sif?” He called breathlessly. The jogger continued her way among the trees and bushes without sparing a thought to the voice that screamed at her.

Thor wondered if she heard him and simply pretended not to hear him, after all, they didn’t exactly call it quit in good terms. Before he dated Jane, he was in a serious relationship with his childhood friend, Sif. When he moved to the city, Thor changed. He was more outgoing, he met lots of people and became very different from his girlfriend, who was still living in an isolated area of the countryside. He still cared very much for her, but the couple only saw each other during the weekends and after a while, they just grew apart. When Sif called him to make sure he was going to visit her, he knew she wanted to leave him. They had a long conversation that ended up with a break up. Both of them knew that it already ended months before.

He ran faster, trying really hard to keep up with the young woman. When he finally reached her side, he tapped her on her shoulder, which made her stop immediately. She turned around effortlessly, taking off her earphone from which a very catchy song blasted. She looked at him with round eyes, clearly she thought she’d the only one running at this hour.

“Thor?” She asked dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”

He was trying to catch his breath, hands on his hips and breathing like a dying veal. It panted for a while before he was able to say a word.

“You’re… hard to… follow.” He wheezed with a smile. She smiled smugly as she played with the cord of her earphones. “Visiting my parents.” He managed to say after another wheeze.

“Me too.” She said pointing at her parents’ house. “It was nice seeing you.” She said hurriedly before she returned to her workout.

“Hey! You can stop by if you want, my mother would be happy to see you.” He said, scratching the back of his neck.

“I will. Say hi to them for me.” She waved as she ran deeper into the woods.

Thor fell on the gravel road, his legs stretched in front of him. After a moment, he stood up and returned to his parents’ house. When he kicked the dust away from his shoes, he heard noises in the kitchen. He pushed the front door and entered the kitchen where Loki was eating his breakfast.

“You’re up early.” Thor took a toast from the mountain that his brother made.

“I was thinking the same. Trouble in paradise?” His brother asked, mouth full with bread and butter.

“I’ve been working out.” Thor shrugged, taking the pot of coffee and pouring himself a large mug. Loki snorted and almost spat the content of his mouth on the spotless table. “What?”

“I can see that.” Loki gestured towards Thor and his spectacular body. “I guess some girls like that.” He winced.

“She does.” Thor lied, though he was not really good at it. “What do you know about love? You hate everyone.” Thor raked his chair noisily as he stood up.

“Hate, love.” Loki pretended to weigh the two words in his hands, using an imaginary scale. “It’s about the same thing.” He resumed in a shrug.

“How would you know?” Thor sighed exasperatedly.

“You’d be surprised, brother.” Loki replied dryly as he stuffed his mouth with more bread.

The door opened on a sleepy Odin, who stared daggers at his sons. His hair was a mess and he was still in his pyjamas.

“For the love of God, it’s Sunday!” The old man slammed his fist on the wall. “What are you doing in the kitchen, screaming at each other?”

“Can’t you see I’m eating?” Loki waved at the food in front of him.

“It’s not even eight yet. I swear if you wake up your mother-”

“Too late.” Frigga sleepy form appeared behind her husband. Odin kept scolding his children but Frigga stopped him. “You stormed out of our room and threw the covers on me, love. I hope you at least made coffee.” She sat in front of Loki.

“I did but Thor drank all of it.” Loki gave an affectionate look to his mother and as per usual, he put the blame on his older brother. He behaved like they were children but Thor was not in the mood for his childish games, he left the kitchen and returned to his bedroom.

“What was that about?” You asked, sitting on the bed.

“My brother is testing my patience.” Thor said, picking up clothes and a towel before he turned to take a shower.

You were left alone in the room and sighed, you were really too nice for your own good. Why did you even agreed on coming with him? Now you were stuck in a house full of strangers, with two whiny brothers, a vegan mother and an angry father. You dressed quickly and went downstairs to grab something to eat. The whole family except for Thor was in the kitchen, all in their pyjamas and eating from the pile of food spread in front of Loki.

“Coffee? Tea?” Frigga stood up and took a mug from the cupboard that she placed in front of you. “Feel free to take whatever you want. I have soy milk if you prefer.”

“I’m good, thank you.” You took a toast and bit in it.

As if you presence made the head of the family uncomfortable, or perhaps it was because he was in his night clothes, Odin stood up and went upstairs. Frigga opened the fridge and looked at its content.

“Since everyone is up bright and early, we should do something together. Lunch at the lake, how does that sound?”

“Great,” you said enthusiastically, glad to find something else to do rather than staying inside the house. Loki shrugged but agreed that it was a good idea.

You spend the rest of the morning helping Frigga with the sandwiches and salads for lunch. She was very busy, the phone kept ringing, and she would spend a great amount of time laughing and talking with her friends.

At lunch time, the family went out to the lake. You were carrying a bunch of food in a basket while Frigga and Odin argued that everyone should be eating whatever they wanted. Odin packed a basket filled with pork sausage, bacon and other items that made Frigga gasp in horror. You were walking next to Thor, Loki was right behind you when Thor took your hand firmly in his.

“What are you doing?” You gasped, trying to wriggle your hand free.

“We’re supposed to be a couple.” He leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Laugh as if I said something funny.” He whispered and you laughed, trying to sound cheerful.

“Get a room!” Loki barked as he walked faster to pass you.

“See?” Thor smiled, releasing your hand. “It worked.”

You arrived at the lake and noticed that some people were already there. They had a table and chairs, sheets spread in the warm grass and baskets filled with food. For an improvised picnic, it was well organised. Frigga waved at the people and from the small crowd of people you recognised Thor’s friend, the one who flirted with you at the bar.

“Fuck!” Thor cursed when he saw Fandral. The blond slim man noticed him too and couldn’t suppress a smile when he saw you. He ran towards you and quickly greeted Frigga and Odin.

“I can’t believe she agreed.” Fandral said, looking at you.

“ _She_ is right next to you.” You rolled your eyes and moved away from them.

“Wow, quite the little lady, isn’t she?” Fandral said as Frigga introduced you to the group of people. “Have you seen Sif?” He asked more seriously.

“I saw her this morning. Can’t say she was thrilled to see me.” Thor took the sunglasses that he hooked on the neck of his shirt and placed them on his nose. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Oh, you know how it works. My mum called your mum, she mentioned you were coming over. She kept nagging me to come over, I figured that if I had to spend a week here, better do it while my friends are here too.” He nudged his friend and looked at Loki who was sitting at the table, flicking a piece of jelly with a disgusted look on his face. “Great, Loki is there too.” He added with a pout.

“Yeah, he- Holy shit!” He rushed to your side as Frigga introduced you to Sif.

“Meet Y/n, she’s Thor’s fiancée.” Frigga said while Sif shook your hand without excitement, a forced smile on her lips.

Thor almost crashed into you and gripped your waist to keep his feet on the round.

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone.” She said, her smile was even more forced as she turned her eyes to Thor who had his hands around your waist. “You didn’t mention it, this morning.”

“You saw her this morning?” You asked out of curiosity.

“Yes, he was panting hard.” Sif said casually, knowing that it sounded like something else. The mothers looked at her with round eyes, until Sif let a small laugh. “He ran after me, I guess I was a bit too fast for him.”

“She means jogging. I saw her during my jog this morning.” Thor clarified and the mothers looked a bit relieved.

Sif’s mother took her daughter to see some other people and you let Thor led you to the table where the food was displayed.

“So sorry about that. I should have told you about her this morning.” Thor excused himself.

“Thor, we’re not together.” You whispered.

“I know, I know. I used to date Sif before I moved to the city.”

“Oh,” you hit your forehead with your hand. “That’s why she was so cold. Great there’s only one girl here and she hates me.” You said, taking a plate and a fork from the pile of crockery.

The afternoon went by really fast and you spent a lot of time with Thor and Fandral. The three of you were sitting on the riverbank, Fandral was throwing the rest of his bread to the ducks who were now surrounding you. Thor spent the entire afternoon with his eyes locked on Sif who preferred to stay with the parents and their other friends, Volstagg and Hogun.

“Need more bread for my ducks.” Fandral said as he stood up and walked in direction of the table. Once he reached the others, they complained that he shouldn’t be feeding the ducks but the blond man didn’t care and from the booing that resulted, he replied something that must have upset the elders.

“She didn’t vanish into thin air, don’t worry.” You smirked as Thor turned around to see where Sif was.

“I was not… I’m.” He stammered, red with embarrassment.

“You still like her. But you’re with me now!” You made a purposely evil laugh and bumped your fist against his massive shoulder.

“We’re not really together.” He smirked back at you.

“Yeah, but that’s what she thinks. And that’s what everyone thinks.” You said as one of the ducks came closer to you in hope to find something to eat.

“Mama is here ducky!” Fandral said running towards the duck with a big chunk of bread in his hand. Unfortunately, he scared the duck away and fell flat next to you with a sad look on his face. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Thor’s big crush on Sif.” You replied while Thor groaned.

“Some things never change.” Fandral laughed, resting his weight on his forearms as he stared into the lake. “I feel like we’re back in high school. Did we jump back in time?” He asked with a sufficient smile.

“Shut up!” Thor replied, moving away from you two.

He walked back to the table and joined the conversation between Volstagg, Sif and Hogun while you stayed with Fandral. You appreciated his company but it seemed like the man was incapable of hanging with a woman without flirting with her. Once you had enough you told him that you needed to shake your legs and strolled around the lake.

It was late but the sun was still hitting hard, you walked around the lake when you saw the younger brother, sitting by himself near a willow tree, protected by the large shadow of the tree.

“Not much of a party man.” You teased, reaching his side. He was reading a book and didn’t look up from it as you came closer.

“All that fuss is making me sick. I’d rather impale myself on tofu stick than participate in these meaningless conversations.”

You laughed and sat next to him. You sighed contently as you were finally able to find a bit of shade. The top of your head was burning up, and you were pretty sure that you shouldn’t have exposed yourself that long. Loki peered over the top of his book to look at you, no one ever cared to stay with him, and he was always alone in a corner. He smiled just a bit when you winced at how hot your head was.

“Should have brought a hat.” He teased, returning his attention to his book.

Loki was a quiet man, he kept reading his book, paying little attention to you as you played with a daisy that you found near the tree. Weirdly, you were feeling much more like yourself sitting here in the grass with him. You didn’t have to make up stories and pretend to be someone that you were not. At least not until Loki asked questions, but you had a feeling that he was not really interested in your life with Thor.

“Hey, weirdos!” Fandral screamed from the other side of the lake. “Time to go back.”

“Oh, I almost fell asleep.” You stretched your arms as Loki closed his book with a roll of his eyes at Fandral’s nickname. He stood up easily and with a hint of hesitation, he looked at you and offered his hand. He helped you get back on your feet, waited until you found your balance and hastily pulled his hand away from yours. He turned away to join his family, leaving you a bit puzzled by his reaction but eventually you joined them too.

Odin traded a bag of untouched tofu with a box filled with pork sausages. He turned to make sure his wife didn’t see it and hid the box under the plaid sheet that used to be on the table. Thor and Sif were talking in a corner and you made sure to stay away from them. Frigga grabbed Thor’s arm to tell him you were back and ready to go.

“Thanks mum, I’ll be right up.”

“It was nice to see you Sif, you grew up to be a very pretty young woman.” Frigga kissed Sif on each cheeks. “You should stop by. I was thinking that we could go shopping with Y/n tomorrow. I’d love to have you with us, a girls’ day!” She said excitedly.

“Tomorrow? Oh, I’m not-” Sif started but was soon cut off by Frigga.

“Great, see you tomorrow at two. We’ll take my car.” Frigga said as she walked away.

Sif sighed before she looked at you, frowned and turned away to return to her parents’ house. You already hated Mondays but that one, it was going to be a hell of a day.


	4. Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3381 words. Library fun! and some innuendos.

You lay in your bed, trying to fall asleep but Thor was snoring louder than a locomotive. He groaned in his sleep and tossed his arm on your back. You yelped loudly as the massive arm hit you and turned to push him. He was so big that it didn’t do anything, so you lay on your side and tried to sleep. When he shivered in his sleep and raised his leg until it hit your back and almost knocked you out of the bed, you groaned loudly and moved the covers.

It was a hot summer night, and Thor’s idea to let you sleep under the covers was turning into a nightmare. You were all sweaty and as soon as you crawled out of bed, Thor took the space that you left and spread his limbs like he were a starfish. You sighed and left the room in your shorts and tight tank top. You had no idea where to go so you went downstairs to hang out in the living room, trying to be as discreet as possible.

When you reached the bottom of the stairs, you noticed that the light was on in the library. You walked slowly until you reach the door. Loki was sitting on a leather chair, legs crossed as he held a book in his hands. When he saw your small shadow, he raised his head to see who it was. You smiled amiably but he simply returned to his book without saying a word. You stayed in front of the library not knowing what to do and slightly intimidated by the younger brother.

“Are you going to stay on the doorstep all night?” He asked, not raising his head from his book. You entered the library very carefully, the laths cracked under your feet.

You browsed around the library to see what kind of books they were into and found lots of old classics. Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Harper Lee, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, they had an incredible collection of novels and short stories.

“Is my brother keeping you up?” He asked with a crude smirk while you took one of the books and sat on a chair near the door.

“Exactly!” You replied and watched as his pale face turned red. It was true, but not in the way Loki intended. But he didn’t need to know about that, and you figured it was your best chance to tease the trickster. If Loki thought that he could make you feel uncomfortable with his pathetic sexual innuendo, he was wrong. “He’s a beast in bed.” You said, remembering Thor’s sleepy groans. Loki’s face turned even redder and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep a straight face.

“I don’t think I need to know about that.”

“He has some wicked moves, hitting all the right spots.” You massaged your shoulders as Loki fidgeted on his chair.

“Okay, enough.” He grumbled.

“You started it.” You grinned as you opened your book. You couldn’t help but chuckle as you started to read your book.

Loki raised his head and glanced at you, you put your hand over your mouth and giggled even louder. You tried to apologise and calm yourself but the nervous giggles wouldn’t stop. For the first time in the last couple of days, you let go of the pressure of being the perfect little girlfriend. Loki drummed his fingers on the armchair and set the book on his lap, waiting impatiently for you to calm down. He watched you with puzzled eyes, wondering why you were laughing like that.

“Did I say something ludicrous?” He asked narrowing his eyes. “Or is Edgar Allan Poe suddenly a comedy?” He added with a small smile.

You looked at the cover of your book, you were indeed reading a series of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe but you couldn’t focus on the story. Your giggles started to calm down and you held your stomach, feeling so much better for no reason at all.

Loki stood up, closed his book and went to take the book from your hands. He stood in front of you and started to read the book, his voice was low and he took a deliberately dark voice that made you shiver. It was the only proper tone for the dark and twisted short stories of that good old Edgar. The smile on your face faded as Loki’s husky voice filled the library, you were drinking his every words.

He only intended to read the first page to calm you down and be able to go back to his book but as he looked at the captivated expression on your face, he decided to keep on reading out loud. He tried to stay natural while you sat crossed legs on the leather chair. You were completely entranced, gasping when something dreadful happened in the story while he moved his hands for dramatic purposes.

 _“…where lay the corpse of the old lady, with her throat so entirely cut that, upon an attempt to raise her, the head fell off_.” He finished the sentence and looked back at you. “Well, I failed to see the humour in this.” He said with a smirk when he noticed how captivated you still looked. Slowly you reached a hand to take the book and watched as he returned to his seat.

“That was great!” You looked at him with round eyes.

“Can I go back to my book now?” His book hid his face.

“Sure, sorry.” You apologised and tried to see where he stopped.

You read enthusiastically, you couldn’t help but wince or gasp as you were completely immersed in the story. You even forgot that you were not the only one in the library, Loki was so quiet. Your gasps first annoyed him, he would peered over the top of his book to give you a dark stare but you were not looking at him. After a while every time you gasped or cringed softly, he would ditch his book and appreciate the look on your face. Your eyes were starting to close but you struggled to keep them open and finish your story.

“You should go back to your room.” Loki said, pretending to read.

“No, I want to finish this.” You replied with a yawn as you turned the page of your book.

“The story will still be there tomorrow.” He smiled to himself, setting his book on the console table.

“I know, but I want to know who killed them.” You blinked to keep your eyes open. Loki took the book from your hands quite easily and marked the page. You took the hand that he offered and stood up from the chair. “Are you coming too?” You looked at the clock, it was past four.

“I’m not tired. You go, I’m sure your boyfriend is missing you.” He looked down, your hand was still in his. You frowned, wondering who that boyfriend was when you remembered that Thor was supposed to be your boyfriend. You laughed a little and nodded.

“Sure, what will he do without me, uh?” You joked but only you could understand the irony in that sentence. He let go of your hand to let you stretch and rub your eyes. He watched intensely as your top hugged the contour of your breasts and your hands ran through your hair. He snapped back to reality before you could see that he was staring. “Night.” You ran your hand on his arm before you left the library.

Loki stayed still while you left the library, he sighed as he took the book you were reading. He had to be careful, the way his heart swelled whenever you were talking to him was the first sign of his infatuation for you. And that was a very dangerous road. He returned to his seat and tried to clear his mind. He returned to his book but after he kept reading the same page over and over, he decided to go to bed. He was tired but his mind was miles away from the novel.

On Monday morning, Thor woke you up when he opened the door. He was about to go for a jog which he seemed very dedicated to do every morning.

“Again?” You said rubbing your eyes. “What time is it?”

“Um, seven. Go back to bed, sorry I woke you up.” Thor said before he left the room.

You tried to sleep but it was too late you were wide awake, the room was already bathed in sunlight and birds were chirping. You whined loudly as you buried your face in the pillow. When Thor came back all sweaty and breathless, you went downstairs where Frigga was sipping on some green mixture.

“Good morning dear!” She said excitedly as you entered the kitchen. “Where you up during the night? I swear I heard someone downstairs.”

“Um, yes, sorry. I couldn’t sleep, I went to the library.

“Oh, alright. I thought it was my son, he likes to stay in the library during the night.” She gave you the kettle.

“He was there too.” Frigga tilted her head and arched her brows, you tried to hide your face from her. She nodded and didn’t give another thought to the revelation.

A cleaned up Thor entered the kitchen and pulled on the hem of his shirt.

“So girls,” He said, pouring coffee into his mug. “What’s the plan today?”

“Shopping.” Frigga was cleaning-up the table. You closed your eyes slowly as you remembered that you were supposed to hang out with Frigga and Sif. “We’ll be going when Sif arrives. Do you want to join us?”

“Shopping? Nope thanks, I’ll pass.” Thor laughed as he bit in a piece of toast.

You went upstairs to get ready but you were really trying to find a way out of this shopping session. You were pacing the second floor, trying to find a good excuse.

“No, Y/n. Get a grip.” You mumbled to yourself, looking at the people downstairs.

“Something’s wrong?” Loki leaned against his doorframe. He left his room and watched you look at the stairs like a child in a horror movie about to murder an entire family. You snapped out of your trance and turned to look at him.

“No, I’m fine.

“Let me guess. You don’t want to go out with my mother, I can’t blame you.” He said with a smirk as he leaned forward, his elbows rested on the rope of the stairs. You smiled weakly to confirm what he said.

“I’ll be okay. It will be what, two hours, three tops. I can deal with that.”

“Suit yourself.” He tapped the rope with his fingers and moved behind you to go downstairs.

When you braced yourself and found the courage to go downstairs to join Frigga, you understood that she was on the phone with someone. You waited at the dinner table, your bag still tangled around your shoulder. Someone knocked on the front door and you stood up to open, thinking that it was Sif.

“Surprise!” Fandral said and laughed when he looked at your dumbfounded face. “Sif couldn’t come so I sacrificed my afternoon to hang out with my best friend’s _girlfriend_.” He said the last word loudly as he stepped into the house.

You were not sure whether you preferred to hang out with Fandral or Sif. Sif looked at you like you were made of stinky cheese while Fandral looked at you as if he was about to jump on you. Frigga hung up and called your name.

“Sif won’t be able to come with us. So I guess- Oh Fandral.” Frigga said when she noticed the young blond man in her living room.

“I heard about Sif’s terrible food poisoning.” He winced and then clapped his hands. “I thought you wouldn’t mind if I took her place. I’m more fun to hang out with anyway.” He beamed.

“Well, I guess.” Frigga said with uncertainty. “Y/n?” She asked if you were okay with it.

“You sit in the back.” You warned Fandral before you followed Frigga to the garage, the woman had a proud smile on her face.

You spent hours following Frigga in every stores of the shopping centre. Fandral followed silently, hands in his pockets. Your feet were killing you, you jutted your hips and hunched as you tried to stretch your back.

“Mrs Odinson? I think we’ll stop to eat something.” Fandral said, hands still in his pockets, as he looked at your hunched figure. “Do you want to leave your bags with us?”

“Oh, that would be great!” The blond mother replied with a large smile before she put her bags in Fandral’s hands and turned away.

“Come on.” He said with a nod and entered a café where you easily found a table. He left the bags at his feet and ordered two coffees from the waitress. “I had a feeling she could do this all day.” He laughed as you sighed contently on your chair. It felt so good to finally stop running around.

“I underestimated her.” You laughed as you arched your back to relieve some of the accumulated tension. “I’m starting to believe Sif found a great way to pull out of it.” You had imagined that she pretended to have a stomach bug to stay away from you but perhaps she didn’t want to hang out with Thor’s mother as well.

“Are you kidding? Sif is even worse than Frigga. You have to leave at a certain hour, follow the schedule that she made. It’s bonkers, and not fun at all.” He looked at you and pressed his lips as he was about to admit something. “Sif is fine. She didn’t want to see you.” He winced, telling you what you already suspected. You pressed your lips together in a thin line and nodded. “It’s not, I mean, she’d like you just fine if you were not dating Thor.” He rolled his eyes when you gave him a smirk. “I know, you’re not really dating him but that’s what she thinks.”

“Does she still have a crush on him or something?” You blew gently on the hot liquid before you sipped it.

“Crush? Not so much. I think I’d go for: complete infatuation that leaves her crying to sleep every night like a teenage girl.”

“Sif? She doesn’t strike me as that type of girl.” You said with a frown.

“Um, everyone has a façade. No one wants to be an open book, right? Sif doesn’t share much. She used to be dating Thor, it was serious. But when Thor moved to the city, they grew apart.” You looked at Fandral with sudden interest. “And then he left her for Jane. Well technically you, but Jane. Ah, this is getting very confusing.”

You nodded inattentively, Sif was still in love with Thor that’s why she was so cold and bitchy with you. You understood her perfectly, if the man you loved was walking around with his girlfriend, you would probably behave like her.

“Let me recap for you. Sif loves Thor. Thor pretends to date me. No one knows but you. And I am not in love with Thor. Not that complicated, must be the lack of space in your brain.” You smirked as you finished your coffee.

“Oh, oh!” Fandral threw his head back at your witty remark. “I was going to pay for the coffees but I let you pay the bill.” He tapped his finger on the bill and laughed.

“Fair enough.” You laughed and left a note on the table. “More seriously and if it’s not too much for your brain, does Thor love Sif?” You asked, sitting on the edge of your seat.

“I have no idea.” Fandral said after he took some time to think about it. “I suppose he might.”

Frigga came back some time later and decided that she had enough. You returned to the car and drove back to the house.

Meanwhile, Thor was left alone in the big family house. Odin was gone to work and Loki was doing God knows what. He paced the house, looking for something to do and sat in front of the television. He was bored to death and started to think that he might have as well joined you and his mother. Just as he started to drift to sleep in front of the television, Sif knocked on the door. He opened the door and let her in.

“I’m returning the boxes from our picnic.” She said raising her plastic bag.

“Are you feeling better? I heard you were too sick to go shopping with my mother.” Thor asked as he took the bag from her hand.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Sif held her arms tightly against her chest. “If I can be honest, I was not sick.”

“I kinda figured it out.” Thor said with a smirk as he returned from the kitchen where he left the plastic bag. Sif smiled softly as she sat on the sofa. “Don’t pick on Y/n. She’s a great girl.” He said as he placed a glass of orange juice in front of her. An old habit that he caught from his mother: every guests should have a glass in their hands as soon as they enter the house. Sif thanked him and shifted in her seat.

“She seems great, yeah.” She admitted reluctantly. “I just can’t. You know.” She didn’t look at Thor but he kept his eyes on her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. If only she knew how much he still loved her. She raised her head and Thor turned his head quickly.

“I know.” He replied gently as he pressed a hand to her knee. They looked at each other for a long time when the front door opened violently. Loki was standing next to the dining table, looking at Thor and Sif. His eyes shifted from them to the hand that Thor placed on Sif’s knee. Thor quickly removed his hand from her knee and cleared his throat.

“Had a good stroll?” He asked casually.

“Great.” Loki answered wearily, his eyes focused on them. He narrowed his eyes and twisted his mouth in a displeased pout. “Where’s Y/n?” He asked his brother.

“She’s with mum.” Thor answered unease before he raised his brows. “Why?”

“I don’t know. You don’t really spend a lot of time with her.” Loki shrugged before he climbed the stairs to go to his room.

“It was nice to see you too, Loki.” Sif shouted with a passive aggressive tone.

“I have a feeling I’ll see more of you, Sif.” The young man screamed from the upper floor.

“I think I should go.” Sif said, her shoulders tensed and she played nervously with her fingers. Thor nodded and walked her to the door. He wanted to ask her to stay, to eat dinner with them, to recall some childhood memories and perhaps go for a walk near the lake but he couldn’t. The car drove by Frigga entered the propriety and honked when she saw the front door open. She parked in the garage and you left the car.

“Sif!” Frigga called as she locked her car and patted Fandral’s shoulder. He nicely offered to take her bags into the house.

Sif and Frigga started to talk in front of the house and you paid no attention. You entered the house as if you just had been going on a trek and climbed the stairs. After a while, Thor closed the front door and climbed the stairs to see how you were doing. When he reached the second floor, his brother’s bedroom opened. Loki looked at Thor, silently judging him.

“You should take care of your girlfriend. Someone might take her away from you.” Loki spat.

“Mind your own business, brother.” Thor waved his finger at his brother as a warning before he entered his bedroom.

Loki balled his fists in rage, his knuckles turned white from the action. He decided that from now on, he would keep an eye on Sif and Thor.


	5. Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3796 words. Long one, sorry about that... Things are moving, YAY!

When you woke up on Tuesday morning, you spread your legs and arms like a starfish, humming in delight as you realised that you had the bed for yourself. Thor was out again, jogging or God knows what. You buried your face in the warmth of the pillow and closed your eyes.

You had been sleeping like a log and as a result had no idea that Loki waited for you most of the night in the library. It was only at around four that he decided to go to bed, having read only three pages of his book in four hours. When he climbed the stairs to return to his bedroom, he tried to convince himself that it was better that way.

You decided to get up and hit the shower, gathered your things and walked slowly towards the bathroom. You took your time, knowing that it was still early and that everyone else was either asleep or already gone to work. When you were done, the bathroom was wrapped in a warm cloud of steam. You opened the door and almost bumped into Loki. His hair was all messed up and his eyes were slightly red from the lack of sleep. He was wearing sweatpants and a grey t-shirt that he used as pyjamas.

After a cordial greeting, you let him enter the bathroom. He closed the door and you winced slightly embarrassed, you took most of the hot water. When you returned to your room, Thor was stretching on the hardwood floor of the bedroom.

“Fandral told me that you used to be engaged to her.” You sat on the bed.

“Fandral should learn to shut his pie hole.” Thor replied dryly as he took clean clothes from his drawer.

“I didn’t know it was that serious, you should have told me.” You replied with a pout. “I thought it was supposed to be a nice week and so far I’m 24/7 fake girlfriend. It’s tiresome, I want freedom!” You tapped your feet on the ground.

“I’m sorry Y/n, my mother was so excited to have my girlfriend for the week that she kinda cleared her schedule to spend most of her time with you.” Thor winced as he faced you. “I’ll try to find a day for you to relax. Thank you for helping me through this.” He said with a smile before he moved to the door.

“Your brother is in the shower.” You said with a smirk as he was about to open the door. You watched Thor sighed before he pressed his back against the door. “Why don’t you tell Sif that we’re not really dating?”

“I can’t, she’ll tell her mother who will tell my mother and we’ll both be dead before noon.” Thor said with a roll of his eyes.

“Do you still love her?” You asked with a knowing smile. He pressed his lips together and tried not to smile. “You do!” He shook his head and stood straight, trying to look more at ease.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m with you now!” He launched forward to throw his arms around you and laughed. “Seriously, we’re different people now. I don’t know if we can be together.”

Judging by the noises that came from the corridor Loki had left the bathroom.

“Hey, um, my brother said something funny yesterday.” Thor rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I think he suspects something.”

“Really? I don’t think so. I mean it didn’t strike me.”

“He said we didn’t look like we were dating. We should probably hold hands and… kiss.” He said tentatively with a twisted grimace, knowing that you would protest.

“Oh, hell no! I can hold your hand, but you keep your lips away from mine.” You shouted at bit too loud and watched Thor move around agitatedly.

“Alright alright, we’ll talk about it later.”

“Can talk all you want it won’t happen.” You grumbled, arms crossed across your chest.

When you arrived downstairs you noticed that Frigga was not in the kitchen which was weird since she was there every morning since you arrived. You found a note from her on the kitchen counter that said that she would be out for the day. You turned around when you heard footsteps coming your way. Loki was now fully clothed and cleaned up, he stood next to you and took a frying pan from the drawer.

“Morning.” He said with a small smile. You returned the polite greeting and moved to let him use the strove. You took the eggs from the fridge and broke them in a bowl, you looked around to find something to whisk them with and noticed that Loki handed you a fork. You chuckled softly and took the item from his hand, he reluctantly took the tofu sausages and placed them in the hot frying pan.

You continued to make breakfast with Loki, sometimes he would raise the frying pan in the air to let you retrieve something that was on his side of the counter. It was like a dance, a silent and agreeable dance in the early morning, with the smell of cooked eggs, tofu sausages and fleshly made coffee in the air. You forgot that Thor was still in the house until he noisily hummed the smell of breakfast that lingered in the kitchen.

“That smells good.” He said as you placed the plate of scrambled eggs on the table. “um, delicious! You guys are a great team.” He said after he took a bite of it.

“Yes and if you can leave enough for those who actually breakfast that would be great.” Loki said with a heavy sigh as he sat at the other end of the kitchen table.

He gave you a fork and a knife and poured coffee into your mug. You thanked him and handed him the plate of scrambled eggs. He smiled and took the plate from your hands. He took a bite and nodded while still looking at his plate, then he raised his head to look back at you.

“Excellent.” He said, praising your cooking skills.

“Right back at you.” You held your fork and bit into the tofu sausage.

Thor watched silently and almost chocked on his food, he could think of several inappropriate comments.

“You’re okay?” You asked, slapping his back to help him breathe. He raised a hand and grinned at you, his eyes were brilliant and watery.

“Yeah, yeah.” He said after a while, his voice was hoarse from his chocking and he gulped down the content of his mug. You looked at Loki but the brother couldn’t care less and simply shrugged before he returned to his plate.

After breakfast you went outside with Thor, he begged that you would act like a real couple when his parents or brother was around but you reminded him that it was never part of the deal. After a lot of begging, you agreed to one kiss, a peck really, Thor thanked you a million times.

After a long walk, you reached Sif’s house. She greeted you more cordially than the previous days and you figured it was a good sign. After all you had nothing against her and even thought she would make a cute couple with Thor. The chemistry between them was so good and you kind of felt like a third wheel.

“You should come to the beach tomorrow.” Sif stated while she slapped Thor’s shoulder. “My parents will be there too, and Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun. All the fancy people.” She laughed.

You turned away from them to roll your eyes _. Great, another day with people who despise me_ , you thought and hoped that Thor was going to invent an excuse.

“Actually, I talked about it to your mum and she said she was okay. Even your father will take a day off to join us, isn’t great?” She beamed.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” You faked enthusiasm in a loud voice to remind them that you were still there. Thor appeared to understand that you were not thrilled about it but Sif seemed indifferent.

“If even the _girlfriend_ is happy about it, then that’s a deal.” She said bumping her fist against Thor’s massive shoulder before she said her goodbyes and returned to her house.

“Does she know that I have a name?” You mumbled as you watched Sif close her front door. As an answer, Thor shrugged his shoulders and pocketed his hands before he continued to walk. You rasped silently and followed him back to the house.

It was early in the afternoon when you came back, you were in the kitchen with Thor when Loki entered.

“I’m going out.” He informed the both of you, adjusting his vest on his shoulder before he left the kitchen.

“So what now?” You asked Thor.

“Well I guess it’s a good opportunity for you to do whatever you want.” He stood up and put his plate in the dishwasher. “My mother is out for the day, you can finally take some time for yourself.” You nodded keenly as he patted your arm. You pondered what you could do but nothing came to your mind. You were sick of walking around the immense garden and you didn’t feel comfortable pacing the house.

You left the kitchen and returned to the living room where Loki was hunched over the dining table, writing something on a piece of paper. He looked at you and grinned.

“Bored?”

“Um? Yeah a bit.” You admitted and he smiled sympathetically. He stayed silent for a moment, like he was pondering something.

“Do you want to join me?” He asked, his voice was tinted with fear and hope.

You found it endearing and peculiar at the same time. The idea of being trapped with Loki inside the car and following him around as he did his things was not exactly appealing but he dared to ask. And from what you understood, it was a big deal, Loki was not the kind of guy who liked to spend time with people. You had nothing better to do and you wouldn’t admit it but you liked his company, after all he made you feel pretty normal, considering how awkward the situation was.

“Sure.” You said finally. “Give me a second.” You sprinted upstairs to take your bag. When you opened the bedroom door, Thor was doing push-ups on the floor. “Hey, I’m going out with your brother. I took my phone.” You said as you adjusted the strap on your shoulder.

“You’re out with Loki?” He asked as if it was the weirdest thing he had ever heard.

“Yeah, is that cool?”

“Sure, why not?” He stopped but remained on the floor, his arms resting flat on the wooden floor. “He let you tag along?” He frowned.

“Actually, he’s the one who asked.” You said with your hand on the doorknob. Thor looked at you with round eyes and after a second he nodded with a smile.

“You have a good influence on him.” He laughed before he returned to his workout. You rolled your eyes slightly and snorted before you returned to the living room. Loki was sitting at the dining table, fingers running on the ebony table. He looked at nothing in particular but he looked annoyed. When he heard you coming down the stairs he stood up and took a long breath.

“Sorry, I had to warn Thor I was leaving in case he would look for me.” You said following him outside.

“I’m not sure that was necessary.” Loki said sternly as he unlocked his car. You pretended not to hear and stepped into the car, while he held the door for you. You nodded as you sat down and fastened your seatbelt.

“What are we doing?” You asked as he started the engine.

“I need to pick up some books.” He replied, eyes focused on the road.

It took a while before you arrived to the harbour. You cracked your neck, stretching a bit as Loki locked the car. He gestured for you to follow him and pushed the door of a library. The smell of old and new book lingered in the air, you took a deep lungful of it before you moved around the small shop. Books were everywhere, piled mindlessly on the floor or carefully placed on the shelves.

Loki went to the counter and rang the bell, he watched you as you cocked your head to one side to read the titles of the books on a shelf. He didn’t even notice that he was staring until the old man who ran the shop cleared his throat for the third time.

“Good to see you here again, Loki.” The old man looked at Loki behind his glasses. When he was younger, Loki used to spend most of his time in the library, his head buried in a book. When he moved out of his parents’ house, the old man started to miss his most fervent customer.

“Visiting your parents?” He said and hunched over the counter to see what Loki was looking at. He saw you, standing in front of a bookshelf, running your pointer finger on the edge of a book. “Ah, I see. Bringing your girlfriend to meet the family.” The old man beamed.

“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s Thor’s.” Loki turned his eyes back to the old man. “Good to see you. How are you doing?” He tried to change the subject.

“Since you moved, I’ve lost most of my income.” The old man laughed and retrieved a bag from behind the counter. “You?”

“Same old.” Loki paid the old man. The old man rested his elbows on the counter and kept looking at you.

“I can’t imagine her with your brother. Did he change drastically?” The old man joked.

“Alas, no.” Loki took the bag from the counter and shook his friend’s hand before he returned to your side.

“That place is great!” You whispered despite the fact that you were the only customers in the obscure place.

“You don’t have to whisper.” Loki chuckled as he bent slightly to look at the book that you were holding. He took the book from your hand and flipped through the pages, the smell of the old book reached your nose and you closed your eyes with a big smile on your face. He laughed and put it back on the shelf before you walked out of the library. You politely greeted the old man behind his counter and left the warm wind hit your face.

“Why do books smell so good?” You frowned as you missed the smell of the library.

“It’s all about chemicals.” He smiled as you walked along the docks. “The paper absorbs the ink and after a while, the chemicals start to degrade, hence the smell. If you’re lucky to find the right ink and the right paper, you’ll create the best fragrance in the world.”

“Yeah, it’s sounds like dating.” You chuckled and he laughed with you, a real sweet smile spread across his delicate features. “If the book smells good, they can date, if not they have to break up.” You joked while he laughed.

The light was getting dimmer and people started to return to their cars while groups of young people gathered in bars and cafés. You had left the books in the trunk and walked around the many shops that were still open. You didn’t check the hour and only remembered that you were supposed to go back when your phone started to ring.

“Yeah?” You said after you saw Thor’s name on the screen.

“Are you guys on your way back?” Thor asked and you could hear some cutlery noises in the background. You checked the time, it was almost seven.

“Oh my God, sorry we’re still at the harbour.” You grabbed Loki’s arm. He turned surprised by your sudden outburst and looked at you to understand what you were talking about.

“My mum made diner. Should we wait for you?” You heard Odin mumbled something in the background but couldn’t understand what he said.

“Oh, your mum made diner?” You repeated for Loki.

“We’re about an hour away from home.”

“Don’t wait for us. Tell your parents we’re sorry, we completely forgot to check time.” You said before Thor dismissed your worries and hung up. “We should get going.”

“They’re about to eat, I think it’s better if we eat here and then return home.”

You entered a small bistro and sat with him at a table. The table was small, designed for a couple. You kept bumping your knee against his. You enjoyed Loki’s company, with him you felt like you could be yourself. But as he kept asking questions, the more reckless you were. You had to remember all the lies you said during the week and Loki seemed to have a great memory. He frowned a couple of times at your answers but didn’t push further.

“I waited for you last night.” He admitted, eating the last chunk for his desert. You felt heat rising to your cheek.

“You what?” You asked with a small laugh.

“I thought you wanted to finish your book.” He shook the feeling of embarrassment that threatened to colour his cheeks.

“Oh that.” You looked at your plate, remembering that you indeed needed to finish the short story that you were reading. “Don’t tell me! I will finish it later.” You spoke loudly, thinking that he was going to tell you the end of the story. He laughed and nodded with a large grin. “When I don’t have Thor’s hands on me, I sleep way better.” You laughed.

Loki fidgeted in his seat and called the waiter. He paid the bill and took his vest. You opened your mouth to protest but he cut you off, he said that it was nice to share a meal with someone for a change.

Together, in the dark orange sky, you returned to the parking lot where the car was missing. You searched for it for a while and had to accept the reality: the car was stolen. Loki picked his phone in his pocket and groaned when he noticed that his battery was dead. You took yours and called Thor, before he could pick up, the battery died and your phone turned black.

“Great.” Loki sighed, running his hands on his face.

“We can look for a cab.” You turned around to see if you could find any.

“There’s no taxi in this city. But there’s a bus stop.” You walked hurriedly with him and after you checked the board, you understood that walking back home was the only option you had left.

You tried to cheer Loki up, but it was near impossible. The walk home would take you most of the evening if not half the night. Loki grumbled something about his books and how his father was going to be upset and you really tried to make him feel better but the young man was stubbornly miserable.

He started to lighten up slightly when your foot got caught in the mud. You scolded him and reached a hand that he took amusedly, helping you. It was a winding gloomy country road, the only light came from the few cars that drove by. It was a bit dangerous and scary, you kept turning around to see if the road was clear. You heard a car and saw it coming in your direction, the driver was reckless and almost knocked you out of the road. Loki launched himself at you, catching your waist and yanking you closer to avoid the collision.

You breathed hard, feeling your heart race as you realised how lucky you were to be alive. You couldn’t help but rest your head on his chest, tears threatened to fall when you realised what would have happened if Loki hadn’t pull you off the road. You felt his grip on your waist loosen now that the immediate danger was gone but he gently caressed your hair to comfort you. You realised that your hand was still holding his arm tightly and you excused yourself. In the dark night, he smiled tenderly and looked straight into your gleaming eyes.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.” His voice was low and soft to calm your agitated nerves.

Your body started to relax under his touch, still pressed close to his chest. He had to bent down slightly to look at you properly, your faces stood inches apart. Your eyes were looking at his thin lips with extreme attention, when you looked up to his eyes again, you saw that his eyes were half closed in the anticipation of a kiss. You closed your own, holding your breath, all rational thoughts had left your body and he was the only thing that mattered. Before he could close the space between your lips, a car honked furiously and the bright light of the headlights blinded you through your closed eyes. Loki quickly released your waist and pulled away from you.

Odin stopped the car next to you and Thor left the car in a hurry. He took you in his arms and you frowned slightly at his reaction. As the hours went by, the two men decided to look for you and Loki. When they tried to call your phones, they went straight to voicemail. Thor noticed that you had tried to call him and after Frigga begged them to hurry, they jumped in the car.

“You’re okay?” Thor asked, releasing you from his hug.

“Yeah. Someone stole the car, we had to walk home.” You climbed into the car. Loki sat next to you on the back seat. Apparently, the two men didn’t notice how close you and Loki were when they arrived. During the ride home, you avoided Loki’s eyes and he did the same.

Odin kept yelling at Loki about the car but Thor tried to calm his father. When they reached the house, Frigga was nervously waiting in front of the house. She only relaxed when she saw you and Loki step out of the car.

“Oh my God!” She hugged her youngest, then you. “What happened?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” Odin said, taking his wife by the waist and pushing her inside the house. “Everyone’s safe, now we need to have some sleep.” Thor followed wearily while you turned around and gave Loki a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you.” You said trustfully and followed Thor inside the house. Loki stood still on the porch, his fingers tracing the spot that you just kissed. A smile crept on his lips as he entered the house.


	6. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have never read ‘The murders in the Rue morgue’ I’m about to spoil it for you. Yep… other than that it’s a bit angsty at the end.

You tossed and turned in your bed until the sun rose and brightened your bedroom. Thor was sound asleep next to you but you were re-playing the event of the previous night in your head over and over again. You moved the covers, exhaling noisily as you stepped out of the room. You went downstairs where Frigga was making coffee.

“You’re up early my dear.” She said as she placed a mug in front of you.

“I couldn’t sleep.” You admitted sleepily.

“I can understand that, after last night!” She gasped and explained that Odin told her all how they found you and Loki on the sidewalk. You couldn’t tell Frigga that the reason why you couldn’t sleep was because you almost kissed her youngest son. And that was something you couldn’t tell anyone but you desperately needed to talk to someone about it. You nodded while she kept talking.

“I was wondering if you had any plans for tomorrow.” She changed the subject. You raised a brow at her. “I planned a party for Thor but you probably already decided to do something just the two of you.” She said with a knowing smile. You, on the other hand, were completely oblivious and searched your mind for some information that you forgot.

“What for exactly?” You said tentatively.

“Thor’s birthday, honey!” Frigga looked at you with round eyes, shocked that you forgot. “You really are tired, aren’t you?” She smile softly and stroked your cheek with her thumb.

“Oh that, no we haven’t plan anything.” You had no idea that Thor’s birthday was coming up.

“What did you get him?” She asked with curiosity, she sat next to you and rested her cheek on the palm of her hand.

“Oh it’s a um, it’s a surprise.” You said with an awkward smile. You excused yourself and went back to your room but Thor was missing. You groaned in frustration and crossed the corridor to knock on Loki’s door. The last thing you wanted to do was to talk with him but desperate times called for drastic measures.

You knocked on the door and waited, it didn’t take long before you heard noises inside the room and footsteps coming closer to the door. You prepared yourself mentally, heart beating a little too fast into your chest. When he opened the door and saw you, Loki cringed a bit and held the doorframe tightly.

“Oh, hi.” He said with evident nervousness. “Did you need anything?”

“Can I come in? I need to ask you something but it’s a bit…” You turned to see if Frigga was behind you. “complicated.” You returned your gaze to him.

Loki’s face dropped and reluctantly, he stepped out of the threshold to let you enter his bedroom. Once you were inside you had to admit that his room was at least three times bigger than the room you shared with Thor. You gasped silently as your mind started to fantasise about living the rest of the week inside this room.

“I have nothing for your brother’s birthday! I need to find something!” You said, trying not to shout as Loki closed the door.

“Oh!” Loki returned to his bed and sat on the covers, that was not what he expected. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Perhaps you would rather pretend that nothing happened. He rubbed the back on his neck and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. Why don’t you have anything?”

“Because I had no idea it was his birthday!” You said throwing your arms in the air and immediately regretted it as the words echoed through your head. Loki raised his head and looked at you intensely, a frown appeared between his brows as he tried to understand.

“You didn’t know tomorrow was his birthday? After dating him for two years?” He kept his eyes on you and you had to think fast to find a plausible excuse.

“I just... forgot, I don’t know I was stressed because… ugh… I had to come here and meet the family. Anyway, can you help me?” You thought that your lie was quite convincing but there were still doubts in Loki’s eyes.

“So? Just go to the city and buy him something he likes.” He shrugged.

You tried not to groan, you had thought about it but despite what everyone thought, you didn’t know much about Thor. One time his sport magazine ended up in your mailbox but that was a rather hazy subject.

“As long as it comes from you, he’d be happy.” He looked at you while you turned around, hand on the doorknob. “I know I would.” He added with a small smile that made you weak at the knees.

Frigga called your name, which ended your conversation with Loki. You thanked him and left his room while he sat bewilder on the bed. Once you arrived downstairs, Frigga called her sons and soon enough the car was packed for a day at the beach. It was around nine in the morning when you left and the sun was already burning your bare skin.

The day was exceptionally hot, especially since it was only nine, and you were already drenched in sweat. You placed your sunglasses on your nose as you stepped out of the house. You raised your hands to gather and tie your hair loosely to find a tiny bit of fresh air on your neck. Odin was already in the car, Frigga was closing the trunk and you understood that you’d have to sit in a back, pressed against the warm and sweaty bodies of Thor and Loki. The joy of being the smallest.

Thor took a lot of space, forcing you to press yourself even closer to Loki. The brothers had a tendency to spread their legs wide open when they sat, which meant that you had even less room for yourself. You tried to fan yourself as the heat and humidity in the car drove you crazy. After two hours of pure hell you finally reached the beach and tapped your feet impatiently as Odin parked the car.

Thor explained that this part of the beach belonged to Sif’s family and you were not surprised. The beach was deserted, only a couple of children and their parents were running around. Thor pointed at them and told you their names but you knew you wouldn’t remember.

A boat was anchored not far away from shore, Sif was climbing the ladder to the water slide and threw her arms in the air when she noticed the Odinson family. She slid down the toboggan and entered the water with grace. When she returned to the beach, she swept her soaking hair on the side and smiled brightly as she greeted her friends. She looked gorgeous and she probably knew it, meanwhile you stood there with your sweat soaked t-shit and low cut denim shorts. Your flip flops splatted sands everywhere before you decided to take them off and hold them in your hand.

“Hi guys!” Sif said to the family as you approached. “We’re very lucky, the weather is great.” She said with a bright smile. “My mother’s set the food over there.” She pointed at a cooler and picnic baskets next to a woman with a one piece bathing suit. “You can join us on the boat, it’s a lot of fun.” She laughed and waved at her friends on the boat.

Frigga joined Sif’s mother and set her own basket next to her, Odin joined the ladies and quickly found a quiet place under a sunshade to read his newspaper. Thor quickly undressed and ran in direction of the sea, he threw his clothes next to the ladies who yelled when it threw sand on them. Loki rolled his eyes and set his towel on the sand. Sif was still in front of you as you stood there with your bag and towel under your arm.

“There’s a cabin if you need to change.” She pointed at the little wooden cabins behind you. You noticed how her tone was friendlier than before.

“Thanks, I’m wearing my suit under that.” You said gesturing to your light yellow shirt.

“Great, join us then.” She beamed before she returned to the boat. Her sudden change in behaviour surprised you, you slowly walked back towards the rest of the group and set your things on the sand.

You undress quickly, revealing your red bikini and joined Sif, Thor and their friends on the boat. It took Loki all his self-control to keep his eyes away from you as you slid down the toboggan and adjusted your underwire top. When you returned an hour later, sand was sticking on your wet body as you sat down. Your hair was soaked but you suspected that it didn’t look as good as Sif’s earlier hair swept. A really pale man sat next to you, handing a bottle of fresh water.

“Need to keep hydrated.” Loki smiled as you breathed hard. You had fun with the others on the boat but you still felt a bit apart, Sif and Thor were wrestling in the water. Fandral chased you around and their other friends didn’t really pay attention to you.

“Thanks. I’m exhausted.” You mumbled as you collapsed flat on the sand and immediately felt it stick to your hair. You placed the bottle on the top of your head and let the icy water cool your burning scalp.

“You really need to wear a hat.” Loki said with a low chuckle.

“I know, why does it burn so much? I never noticed it before.” You said with a small moan as the top of your head started to feel much cooler.  Loki laughed softly before he crossed his legs, playing with sand.

You propped yourself on your elbows and observed him. You placed a hand over your eyes to look at him, without being blinded by the bright light. He was stronger than he looked, you followed with your eyes the subtle outline of his muscles, down over his abdomen. You were staring but he didn’t seem to notice, you shook your head before anyone could catch you ogling Thor’s little brother.

“So how does it end?” You asked Loki while you looked at him. He looked at the people on the boat and answered without looking back at you.

“What end?”

“The story I was reading. I’m too tired to read it today and I’m not sure I’ll have much time tomorrow. Tell me how it ends, the suspense is killing me.” You finished your sentence in a dramatic high pitched voice that made him chuckle and look at you.

“What was it again?” He asked with a frown.

“Murders in rue something.” You tried to remember the title.

“Ah, the Murders in the Rue Morgue.” He said the correct, full title and looked back at the people on the boat. You elbowed him lightly and made him continue. “Wait, I need to remember.” He pondered, trying to recall the story. “Okay, yeah, so the women were killed by an Orang-utan. It belonged to a sailor and he tried to stop him but the primate was too strong for him.”

You burst out laughing, not believing the revelation. He shook his head with a roll of his eyes, a small smile lingered on his lips while you laughed heartily. “Sunstroke much?”

“No, stop it. I swear that’s what happened.” He said but only increased your giggles, you had to steady yourself on his shoulder as you continued to laugh. People started to look in your way and Loki couldn’t fight the smile that crept at the corner of his mouth. “You know what? You’ll read it yourself.” He said firmly but that didn’t stop your giggles.

“I will.” You finally managed to control yourself. When you stopped laughing, a silence grew between you and was soon broke by Loki who started to laugh.

“I do have to admit that it’s a strange story.” He calmed himself.

“Sounds like it.” You nudged him with your shoulder.

You stood there together, looking at the sea while the others played on the boat or in the water. You were munching on some food that Loki took from the picnic basket and enjoyed a nice talk with him. You couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, especially since you almost kissed him the night before. And you could tell that Loki was also fidgeting uncomfortably at times. Frigga stood up when the air started to cool down and called her family. Thor left the water and returned to his family.

He stood near his mother, she was talking to him about something that seemed to irritate him. You and Loki soon reached them. From where you were you could tell that his mother scolded her oldest because he didn’t take care of you. She turned around to pack the rest of her things while you picked your bag.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t really pay attention to you today.” Thor said in a whisper as he helped you gather your things.

“It’s okay, I had fun.” You smiled and looked at Loki.

Thor caught you by your waist as you were bend down and pulled you close against his bare chest. You gasped a little, wondering what he had in mind when you noticed that Frigga was looking at you. You pretended not to see her and laughed as Thor circled your waist with his big arms.

“Hey, you remember that kiss you agreed on?” He asked in a whisper that was everything but romantic.  

“Yeah? What, now?” You whispered, a bit startled by his request. “But tomorrow is your birthday, that’d be weird if we don’t kiss on that day.”

“Yeah, I know but my mother is getting wary. I did spend the day with another woman.” He pretended to bury his face in your neck and Frigga smiled softly as she looked at you. Loki was not so happy and looked away before he’d say anything that he might regret.

“Fine.” You conceded in a sigh. You turned around and pressed your mouth against Thor’s, he returned the kiss and broke it a couple of seconds later.

“Wow, get a room!” Fandral barked as he folded his things. You patted Thor’s big arm before you returned to your bag. Thor let out a small laugh before he informed you that he was going to get change.

You waited with Frigga, Odin and Loki next to the car while Thor was still missing. When he had enough, Loki went to look for his brother. He looked inside all the cabins but couldn’t find Thor. He was about to give up when he heard small giggles and loud moan coming from behind one of the cabin, away from the curious eyes of the passers-by.

He walked cautiously, following the sound and what he saw made his jaw clench. He balled his fists and stared at his brother who was passionately kissing Sif. He wanted to interrupt them but he also wanted to know how far Thor would betray you. When he saw how much Thor wanted Sif, pinning her against the wooden cabin, grinding himself against the black haired woman; he had to step back.

He turned around, his face was red and his fits were ready to fight. When he returned to the car, his mother asked if he found Thor.

“No.” It was the only word he could articulate before he entered the car and fastened his seatbelt, looking all disturbed and fuming. You sat next to him, taking the middle seat and frowned.

“Something wrong?” You asked with genuine concern.

“If I were you, I’d run away.” He said without looking at you.

He remained silent, even after you nagged him for ten minutes straight. When Thor came back, Loki turned his head away and tried to focus on the scenery but the muscles on his arms were still clench, his veins started to show. Everyone could tell that something was wrong with Loki but his family knew him too well to push further. He would not say a word, never.


	7. Thor's day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2504 words. Tadaaaa! I love cliffhangers ;)

You woke up late on Thursday, the house was silent and you were alone in the bed. You rubbed your eyes and stretched, feeling rested for the first time since the _holidays_ started. You opened your door, still in your pyjamas. Outside, Loki was waiting for you. You could tell, because he was patiently waiting next to the stairs which you found a bit odd.

“Good, you’re up.” He said as he slightly pushed you to enter your bedroom.

You were still half asleep and couldn’t argue when he started to look around the room. You blinked a couple of times in order to dissolve the cloud of sleepiness that was still keeping you numb.

“What are you doing?” You asked, leaning against the frame, a hand over your mouth as you yawned noisily.

“I told you to leave. Pack your things and go.” He found your bag and put it on the messy bed. “Run away before he comes back. You deserve someone better than my brother, Y/n. He’s not who you think he is.”

“Okay, calm down. Is this why you acted weird yesterday?” You closed the door and sat crossed legs on the bed. You took your bag and threw it on the floor. “I’m not going anywhere. Not until you say something.” You looked at him severely.

“I shouldn’t be the one telling you this.” Loki looked at the bag on the floor and sighed, you were a stubborn one.

“Loki, I literally just woke up. I need caffeine and food so spill the beans already!”

“Thor is cheating on you.” He blurted out. “Open your eyes, can’t you see what’s right in front of you?” He said more agitatedly, anger rose quickly and coloured his cheeks.

“Can you?” You stood up and placed your hands on your hips, looking at him in the eyes. Before you could add anything a loud noise from the living room interrupted you. A very happy Thor whistled as he climbed the steps two by two. He stopped mid whistle when he saw you and Loki in the bedroom.

“What are you guys doing in the middle of the bedroom?” He frowned while he took fresh clothes from his drawer.

“Nothing.” You shook your head and moved to go downstairs. You stood on your tiptoes and kissed Thor on the cheek, wishing him a happy birthday.

Once Loki was sure that you couldn’t hear them, he grabbed Thor’s arm, yanking him harshly as he placed his mouth close to Thor’s ear.

“I know about you and Sif.” He said quietly but the anger in his voice was unmistakable. Thor stiffened at the words.

“Don’t tell mum. I swear Loki, don’t tell our parents.”

“ _Our parents_?” Loki repeated sceptically, releasing his brother’s arm. “I’m telling you I saw you shove your tongue in your ex-girlfriend’s mouth and that’s all you have to say?” Loki pulled away, a mix of incredulity and anger marked his face.

“I’m not dating Y/n. We’re pretending because mum kept nagging me and I broke up with Jane months ago. I had to beg Y/n to come here, she’s my neighbour.” Thor explained and watched as Loki looked back at him. Blank stare. “Say something.” Thor pleaded.

“You’re a moron.” Loki fluttered his eyes as he blinked the shock away. “Who came up with this idea?”

“Fandral.” Thor admitted scratching the back of his neck with a grimace.

“Why am I not surprised?” Loki inhaled deeply before he ran his hands through his hair.

Frigga and Odin were throwing a surprise party for Thor, they were very excited about it and insisted that you should take Thor out for the day. You were at the shopping centre, walking with the brothers. The three of you entered a shop and you stood close to Thor. He took the hint and moved away from Loki who was looking at the items displayed.

“Did you tell Sif we were not dating?” You asked in a whisper, pretending to look at a collection of snow globes.

“Yeah, how do you know?”

“Loki told me. He thinks you’re cheating on me. Thor, we have to stop this, everything is falling apart.”

“Yeah, sorry. Things got intense but on the plus side, you’ll have an excuse to break up with me.” He smirked.

“Dude, you’re twisted.” You rolled your eyes.

“You know, I find it cute.” Thor shrugged with a small smirk. When he saw you looking at him with questioning eyes, he leaned and discreetly pointed at Loki. “Someone has a crush.” He beamed next to you.

“What? I don’t have a crush on your brother.” You said in a hurried way, trying to hide as you felt your cheeks burn.

“I meant him.” Thor replied with his lips pressed into a thin line, trying really hard not to smirk but failing miserably. He watched as your mouth opened in an embarrassed ‘O’ and laughed. “I should have known.” He hit his forehead with the flat of his hand.

“Shut up, _boyfriend_.” You emphasised the last word and he snorted.

“You did kiss me yesterday.” He taped his chin as he recalled your quick kiss.

“Please, you begged me to.” You laughed and titled your head, tossing your hair behind your shoulder mindlessly.

“Ah! I bet you’re happy that I took you out for the week now.” He pursed his lips as you moved away from him.

“The jury’s still out.” You replied loudly as he winked.

A couple of hours later, you were back for the surprise party. When Thor stepped out of the car, a gigantic crowd of people came out of the house, screaming ‘surprise’ and although you knew that there would be a party, you didn’t expect to see that many people. Thor laughed heartily and greeted his friends with a large smile. You kept your distance as they hugged and laughed together. Frigga invited the large crowd in the backyard where a plethora of food and drinks were stored.

The backyard was unrecognisable, in less than seven hours, Frigga and Odin threw the greatest party you had ever seen. Red and yellow balloons and garlands were suspended everywhere. Long tables were covered with trays of food of all sorts and a big cake was under a glass dome. Another table with bottles of alcohol and different kind of juices waited to be mixed.

The party was in full swing, people singing, laughing, drinking and recalling memories as the dark night wrapped them in its warm wind. You were sitting at a table with Hogun and Volstagg, they were beyond intoxicated and you were completely sober. You had thought about drinking the whole bottle of vodka but you had to keep your mind clear. It was difficult enough to remember what lies you told so you figured that the safest move was to keep your glass filled with orange juice only.

However, being the only one sober took its toll and you ended up rolling your eyes most of the night, watching the other guests stumbled over their own feet or laughed hysterically at nothing. You had to suppress the urge to sigh, people looking at you with pitiful eyes as Thor and Sif entertained the guests on the dancefloor. Surely people believed that you were jealous of Sif while you were just bored to death, the only thing you wanted was to go back upstairs and sleep. An idea that was even more appealing since you would be able to sleep alone.

After you had enough, you stood up from your chair, Hogun and Volstagg didn’t even notice that you were gone. Odin and Frigga went upstairs to leave the group of young, excited people alone. You returned to the house without telling anyone and sighed in relief when you entered the quiet house. You didn’t notice the younger brother sitting at the dining table, alone in the dark living room but his voice startled you.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said quickly but even in the darkness you could see a smirk spreading on his pale face.

“Why aren’t you at the party?” You asked, a hand still pressed against your racing heart.

“Why aren’t you?” He questioned with a smug voice.

“I asked first.” You replied, folding your arms. In the dark, you saw him gesturing for you go on and you gave in. “I don’t know anyone, I’m bored and tired. I just want to sleep.” You sighed and sat on what you thought was a chair but ended up being the table.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go for a walk.” He tapped his hand on the table as you groped for a chair.

“I’m completely knackered.” You replied, resting your elbow on the table and held your sleepy head with your fist. He stood up and walked towards the library.

“Another time.” He said, his back turned away from you as he entered the library. You stood in the living room, in the dark, you wanted to follow him but you knew that you couldn’t hide the feelings that were overwhelming you. You had no idea that Loki knew that you were not dating Thor. You thought about Thor who was lasciviously dancing with Sif, not caring for a second about your fake relationship. If he allowed himself to be reckless, then so could you. You decided to join Loki.

Loki was sitting on his usual leather chair, two fingers pressed the bridge of his nose as his eyes were pressed shut. With a long sigh, he opened them, shook his head and returned to the book on his lap before he saw you standing in front of him.

“I guess that I won’t be able to sleep much with all that noise. Mind if I stay?” You found the book that you used to read the other night and returned to your reading. You only had a couple of pages left and read them quickly before you started to chuckle wholeheartedly

“See.” Loki said, his eyes focused on his book. “Told you it was the orang-utan.” He peered over the top of his book to smile at you. You put your book down and bit your thumb to control your giggles.

“That’s just crazy but weirdly plausible.” You added with a nod of your head. “So that’s what you do all day? Read.” You asked as you looked around the library.

“And all night.” He added with a smirk.

“That’s nice. Being passionate is important. I mean, it’s important to have a passion.” You added quickly.

“What about you? Do you have any?” He closed his book and set it on his lap. You ran a finger through your lower lip, pondering his question while he intensely looked at you.

“I do.” You said with a snap of your finger. “But you’ll think it’s silly.” He smiled and nodded to encourage you.

You told him about the thing you liked the most, that one subject you can never stop talking about. Your eyes were shining with excitement as you explained everything in detail, at this point you didn’t even care if he wasn’t really listening. But if you had been able to stop your rambling frenzy, you would have caught the look of pure adoration in his eyes as he listened intensely, savouring every word. You talked fast and loud, covering the muffled noises of the party that was still going on outside. After a while you had to stop to take a deep breath, as your lungs begged for it.

“Easy, easy.” Loki said, sitting on the edge of his seat with his knees almost touching yours. You were already sitting on the edge of yours, hunched forward as you emphasised each details. You became very aware of your sitting position and ran your hands on your face with a chuckle.

“You must think I’m a complete psycho.” You said and peered at him through your spread fingers. You smoothed your clothes and sat a bit more straight but still on the edge of your seat.

“No I don’t, I think you’re-”

“Crazy?” You tried with a small smile. “Weird?”

“Sweet.” He admitted with a small smirk plastered on his face.

“You think I’m sweet?” You said with a hand over your heart. He immediately looked down at his feet and let out a small uncomfortable chuckle. You felt heat rising to your cheeks but you knew you had the upper hand so you tried to hide that bashful feeling.

“Yes, I think everyone who talks so openly about their passion are sweet.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. You grimaced slightly and looked down at your legs.

“So it’s not just me. It’s everyone.” You said softly.

“I don’t usually get involve with people long enough to have a ten minutes lecture about their favourite thing.” He snorted and hunched forward to raise your head with his pointer finger. “So, it’s just you.” He added, starring into your eyes. His voice was low and smooth, you had to close your eyes to appreciate the vibration of his words as they slowly made their way into your heart.

He moved closely, his eyes closing shut before his thin lips caressed yours in a gentle kiss. You returned the kiss, pressing your lips a bit more against his. The moment he knew you wanted it as much as he did, he launched forward to grab your neck, his lips moving with yours in a heated kiss. You didn’t have time to realise what happened, you thought that it meant that he wanted you more but suddenly his lips were no longer on yours. Instead, you opened your eyes and saw the black haired man pinned against the bookshelf by a much older man.

The old man pressed his hands on Loki’s shoulders, making him hit the bookshelf with so much strength that some books fell on the floor. It took you a while to process what was happening. Odin yelled at his son, spluttering as his rage filled the library. Loki’s eyes were wide open, he tried to free himself but Odin’s grip was too tight. You blinked the shock away and stood up when the old man turned around and gave you his most hatred stare. You stumbled backward and fell back in the chair as Loki pushed his father violently. He screamed back at his father, threatening the old man if he dared to touch you. Everything was blurry and the sound appeared to come from somewhere far away from you, yet everything happened so fast.

You turned your eyes towards the door to see that your quarrel had an audience, you stared at the people without seeing them. Your eyes scanned for Thor but your mind wasn’t focused, you wanted him to enter and calm everyone down. It was time to tell everyone about the fake relationship or else someone might get hurt.


	8. Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2935 words. Some super fluffy chapter… and a bit of grinding too ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Just when you started to snap out of your trance, you heard Odin groan loudly and felt long fingers close around your wrist. You were forced to stand up by Loki who led you out of the library. You passed the small crowd of people and left the house. You felt like a balloon floating behind Loki who was running away from the house, his hand still holding your wrist.

You ran for a while until you reached the lake, at that moment you made him stop. He turned around and you collapsed on a large rock by the lake, resting your back on the cold mineral while you tried to catch your breath. You inhaled a lungful of air and panted, looking up at the stars that were shining in the midnight sky. It might have been because of the adrenaline that thrashed through your veins but when you turned your head to look at Loki, you both had the same reaction.

You took him by the neck while he pinned you against the rock, his mouth was pressed against yours in a heated kiss. Your lips moved in sync with his when his tongue swept along your bottom lip, begging for more. You parted your lips to let his tongue slip into your mouth. His tongue dominated yours which didn’t surprise you and rather than fight for dominance, you ground yourself against him. He moaned against your mouth, sliding his hand along your thigh and hooked it behind your knee before you wrapped your leg around his waist.

His other hand rested flat against the cool rock while your hands were tangled around his neck to make sure he’d stay still. You swallowed his groans of pleasure while you pressed yourself against him. When you were both out of air, he pulled away and you tugged his bottom lip between your teeth in a last provocative move. He rested his forehead against yours while he released your leg, a wide grin spread across his features.

You both stood in that position, catching your breath and feeling the weight of the kiss until you both started to laugh. He cupped your face with his large hands and looked into your eyes while he continued laughing. Even in the darkness you could see the glimmer in his eyes and his wide candid smile. You realised that it was probably the first time you really saw him smile, it was honest and authentic, not like his usual smirks and sarcastic grins.

He moved away, holding your hand as you smiled back at him. You could see the house, the lights were on in almost every room and the music was no longer filling the air. You could hear cars leaving the driveway, apparently your little misdemeanour with Loki put an end to the party.

“So what now? We’re basically fugitives.” You gestured at the house and smiled.

“How about we go for that walk?” He grinned and pulled on your hand to lead you into the woods.

You followed sheepishly, your fingers intertwined with his as you walked along the path. You saw a deer in the bushes near the path and pulled on Loki hand to crash against his side. He looked at the deer, then back at you and laughed.

“She’s probably more scared than you are.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders.

“Yeah but it might not be the only thing that hides in the forest.”

“Like what? Wolves? So far it’s only deer and owls.” He said when he heard an owl hooting.

“No but what about badgers, bats, squirrels, wild boars-”

“I think I can take a badger.” Loki laughed as he rubbed patterns on your arm.

“I don’t know, badgers can be quite strong.” You raised your head to smirk at him. He caught the look in your eyes and shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

“Fine but if you get attack by a squirrel I’m on it.” He laughed and pressed you closer against his side as you continued to move deeper into the woods.

“Speaking like a true hero.” You mused as you appreciate the warmth of his body, the air started to get chilly.

You walked for a long time until you reached a small hill. It was late and you decided to stay there, hoping that by the dawn of the new day Thor would have filled Odin and Frigga on the situation. You laid in the soft grass, your arms bent behind your head as you looked at the not so dark sky. Loki laid next to you, making you nest against his chest to make you more comfortable. Your head was pressed against his side and you felt his heart beat steadily.

When your eyes started to close, he threw his thin jacket on you now that the air was cold. He shivered a bit in his small t-shirt but your body kept him warm. He waited for the sun to come up and slowly the dim light of day replaced the cold night. The grass was damp around you and the dank feeling woke you up, not that you were in a deep sleep anyway.

“Morning.” You said with a smile as you tried not to rub your eyes, your make up from the night before was already smudged under your eyes. You ran your thumbs under them to smear the eyeliner and stretched with a loud moan.

You sat with your knees to your chest, wrapping your arms loosely around your legs as you watched the sun slowly rise in the orange sky. When the sun was high and the orange in the sky was slowly replaced by the blue of the sky, you both stood up and returned to the house.

You stayed quiet for most of the walk back which took you a while and by the time you reached the house, the sun was hitting hard. When you walked by the garage you noticed that Odin’s car was missing. Your heart was beating fast in your chest as you followed Loki inside the house.

It was silent, too silent. You both stood in the living room, eyes wide open as you thought about your next move. Loki used the hand that was holding yours to point at the stairs and you nodded, thinking that since nobody was there you could use a nap to gather your strength before the confrontation. You were at the bottom of the stairs when Frigga’s voice startled you.

“So nice of you to come back.” She said sternly from the kitchen.

You turned around and saw her, still in her night clothes with a cup of coffee in her hand and an empty coffee-pot in front of her. Loki looked at you and stroked your hand with his thumb before he reticently entered the kitchen. You followed wearily behind him.

Frigga pressed two fingers on the bridge of her noise, seemingly irritated and annoyed. She exhaled deeply, her breath came out a bit wobbly.

“Did Thor-”

“He explained.” Frigga cut him off. “I’ve been sitting here, wondering what I did to deserve to be treated this way by my sons.” She slammed her hand on the table and looked at Loki.

“I swear I didn’t know.” He raised his hands but she didn’t care.

“And you?” She looked at you. “Why on earth would you agree to do something like that?” She shrugged, trying to understand your motivations.

“I guess I’m just really stupid.” You entered the kitchen and sat in front of her. “I have no idea why I agreed. I wanted to help Thor and the way he described it, it sounded like a good idea. We never meant to hurt your feelings, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

“I figured it out.” She said rolling her eyes. Loki had his hands pressed on the back of your chair. “And what was that?” Frigga motioned to you and Loki in a half scream. Against his will, Loki snorted and looked down at his feet. “Why are you laughing? I’m serious Loki!”

“I don’t know, mum. I just think it’s amusing. Might as well just deal with it.” He shrugged and his mother’s face turned incredibly red.

“Deal with it? Go to your room!” With a swift movement of her arm, she pointed at the stairs and he looked at her in confusion.

“But mum-”

“Go, I don’t want to see you again. I don’t want to say something I might regret.” She avoided his eyes.

“I’m not five anymore!” He held out his arms before he turned around to climb the stairs. “God, Thor does something wrong and I’m the one who get yelled at.” He mumbled as he reached the top of the stairs.

“I can hear you! And don’t think I didn’t yell at your brother as well. Trust me, he’ll remember it.” She yelled back at nothing while you pressed your lips together in awkwardness.   

“Yeah, right!” You heard Loki scream before he closed his door violently, the noise echoed in the house.

You fidgeted in your seat and started to push the chair when Frigga stopped you. You had a heart-to-heart talk with her. She was really shaken by the lies and everything but when she understood that you had nothing to do with it and that you were really just trying to help a friend, she calmed down. She preferred to have you on her side as she talked about her sons. She put the blame on Thor and questioned you about Loki. You told her the truth, you didn’t know what was going on with her youngest but he made you feel comfortable and important so you didn’t want to fight these feelings. She agreed, saying that it was hard to find someone you could made us feel that well without even trying.

After a long, very long conversation with Frigga, you climbed the stairs, hoping to be able to sleep for a moment but you suddenly wondered if you should go back to the bedroom you shared with Thor. On one hand you had all your things in Thor’s bedroom but now that everyone knew about the fake relationship, you were no longer forced to sleep in the same bed as the big brother. On the other hand, sleeping in Loki’s bedroom seemed a bit inappropriate but his bedroom was twice the size of Thor’s.

Loki’s door opened when you reached the top of the stairs, he leaned against the frame and folded his arms against his chest.

“Did she give you hell?”

“Nope.” You said, popping the ‘p’. He took a step to hug you but you stopped him, showing him the flat of one of your hand. “You’re still grounded.” You tried to sound serious but did a really bad job at hiding your smirk. He rolled his eyes and tutted while he closed the space between you and him. “I will tell your mother that you’ve disobeyed her?” You laughed as he approached with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“What can I say? I’m a really bad boy.” He said in a low seductive voice that made you shiver but you tried to keep your cool.

“This has got to be the weirdest kink I’ve ever seen.” Thor said as he opened his bedroom door. “Do you guys realise that I can hear you perfectly well?” He grinned and appreciated the look of complete mortification on your face.

“Very funny, brother. Now can you give us a bit of privacy?”

“Actually, we kind of need to talk.” You blurted out, facing Thor before you turned around and mumbled an apology to Loki.

You followed Thor back into the bedroom and closed the door behind you. You both realised that it was time for you to go back to your flat and decided to leave first thing in the morning. You still had to face Odin but you suspected that he wouldn’t say much to you since he already tried to avoid you most of the week. You were gathering your things while Thor thanked you for your help.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in this room?” He asked as he handed you your hairbrush.

“Don’t take this personally but sleeping with you is like getting hit by a hammer.” You grinned while you zipped your bag. “You sleep like a starfish.”

“So I’ve been told.” He ran a hand on the back of his neck. “Right, I’m off. See ya tonight.” He left the room and didn’t close the door behind him. Loki stepped inside the room a few seconds after Thor left.

“Going somewhere?” He frowned watching you pack your bags.

“I need to find a place to stay tonight. I’m going to sleep on the sofa in your mother’s workshop.” You tried to pick your bag but it was pretty heavy. With a small grin, Loki closed the space between him and the bed and effortlessly lifted your bag. “Oh, so you _are_ stronger than a badger.” You laughed.

“You’re very funny, has anyone told you that?” He smirked as he crossed the corridor, still holding your bag.

“Hey! Where are you going? The workshop is here.” You pointed at the space near the bathroom but he shook his head and entered his room. You followed him and crossed your arms against your chest. “You want me to stay in your room? That’s sounds like trouble.” You tilted your head.

“I can’t let you sleep on the sofa. Look, I have a bed that you can use all you want. For sleeping.” He added with a smirk.

“Why else?” You rolled your eyes and put a finger on your lips when he was about to answer. “Ssh! Don’t.” You sat on the bed and kicked off your shoes while he laughed.

“I’ll go downstairs talk to my mum. Sleep well!” He kissed the top of your head before he left the room. You hugged the fluffy pillow and it took you about ten seconds before you started to fall asleep.

When you woke up it was almost dinner time, you rubbed your eyes before you went to the bathroom to take a shower. When you were done you heard noises downstairs and knew that dinner was served. You went downstairs and saw the family sitting at the table. Sif was there too, sitting nervously next to an empty chair that you figured was yours. You gave her a small smile before you sat next to her.

The dinner was quiet, Odin made some snug comment about how his sons were complete morons but other than that nothing really terrifying. The brothers cleared the table and you caught Frigga’s smirk behind her glass of water. Once everything was cleared and cleaned, Thor took Sif outside to walk her back to her house.

Upstairs you sat on the bed and brought your knees to your chest while you waited for Loki. He entered his bedroom with a bunch of books in his hands and threw them on the coffee table in front of the sofa that was in his room.

“So that was a very awkward dinner.” You pulled on the hem on your shirt idly.

“Yes but at least it was the last one.” He sat on the sofa and opened a book. You moved from the bed and crossed the bedroom to sit next to him on the sofa. You took his arm and placed it around your shoulders while you nested against his chest. Your feet were on the sofa as well.

“Read to me.”

“Y/n.” He sighed.

“What? Read to me, I like when you read out loud.”

“I can’t even turn the pages.” He said with a look to the arm that was tangled around you but he caught the way you look at him and he was afraid that you might change your mind and leave his room so he gave in. “Alright, fine.” You smiled as you closed your eyes to appreciate his voice. “ _Conradin was ten years old, and the doctor had pronounced…_ ”

At the end of the short story, he looked down at you and wondered if you were asleep. When he started another story and didn’t read it aloud, your voice broke the silence in the room.

“Again.”

“Y/n, you’re sleeping.”

“No I’m not, I’ve slept all day. I’m good now go on, entertain me.” You smirked and slapped his thighs to encourage him.

“Fine, I’ll _entertain_ you but I want something in exchange.” You looked up at him with questioning eyes and he bent his head down to brush his nose against yours. You smiled and used your arm to raise the upper half of your body to meet his lips. His moulded his lips to yours and you hummed in delight; the taste of his tongue and the fast beating of his heart against the palm of your hand were enough to drive you mad.

He read another story out loud and this time you really did fell asleep. Your breathing was slow and steady against his chest and despite the fact that he knew that you were sleeping, he read another story at loud. He put the book down and he moved you so that your head rested on the pillow that he placed on his lap. He played dreamily with your hair until he fell asleep, trying not to think that this was your last night in the house.


	9. And Another Week Bites the Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2827 words. I have no idea what happened here and I’m not happy about this chapter at all but anyway… So I'm gonna spoil my own story by saying that's there's implied smut (no actual smut because it's rated T but believe me it was a cruel dilemma.)

On Saturday, you woke up on the sofa in Loki’s bedroom. Your feet were pressed against the arm of the sofa and your head was resting on a pillow that was placed on his lap. You were facing the ceiling, your hair was tangled above your head as if someone had been playing with the strands all night. You looked up at him, he was sound asleep and his breathing was loud and steady. You moved from his lap and stretched your arms above your head.

You sat on the sofa to gather your thoughts before you stood up and took your bag from the chair near the sofa. The small noises that you made woke him up and after he blinked and rubbed his eyes, he stood up as well.

“What are you doing?” His voice still raw with sleep.

“I’m leaving in a few, thought it was better to let you sleep.” You replied in a whisper despite the fact that now he was awake.

“Let me sleep?” He repeated after he cleared his throat.

“Yeah, it’s called being nice.” You pursed your lips before you took your jacket and phone.

“Really? It looks like you’re trying to sneak away.” He crossed his arms and sat on the arm of the sofa.

“I’m not.” You assured him but he didn’t look convinced. “Seriously, why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. I suppose this is the last time we’ll see each other, I guess you’d rather leave without saying goodbye.” He avoided your eyes and shrugged, trying to look detached.

“Hey! It’s not summer camp and I’m not twelve. We’re both adults and we have phones. You even know where I live now. If you want to see me again, you just have to ask.” You closed the space between you and him and held his head in your hands, forcing him to look at you.

“I would really love to see you again.” He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you against him to kiss you.

“That settles it.” You smiled as you broke the kiss. You thought about your upcoming week and that you’d have to go back to work and it made you sulk. “How about next Friday?” You asked, running a hand through his dark hair.

“Sounds like a date.” He replied enthusiastically, kissing the palm of your hand.

 You stayed close together for a little longer, hugging and kissing until it was time for you to leave the house. He helped you take your bag downstairs, Thor was already packing the car. Frigga was sitting under the porch, a cup of cup in her hands as she watched her son with drowsy eyes.

“Ready?” Thor asked you as he closed the trunk that now contained your bag. You nodded and stood on your tiptoes to place a kiss on Loki’s cheek.

“Friday, seven, the Chinese restaurant on main street.” You whispered in his ear while he nodded enthusiastically. You smiled, running our hand on his lean chest as you moved away.

You didn’t really know how to say goodbye to Frigga and judging by the look of betrayal on her face as she looked at her oldest, she wasn’t in a great mood. You moved slowly until she noticed you and gave you a small smile.

“Take care of yourself.” She said while she hugged you. You returned the smile and joined Thor near the car.

“Looks like someone is going to miss ya.” He nodded at Loki who was standing next to his mother, his arms folded against his chest as he looked at you. You waved goodbye and entered the car, a bit relieved that the week was finally coming to an end.

You were on the road with Thor, pretending to be asleep so that he would stop teasing you about Loki. When you finally reached your apartment building it was almost dinner time. Thor was exhausted, so you let him go upstairs while you took the bags out of the car. You sighed at the sight of the mail that accumulated in just a week and opened your front door.

You kicked off your shoes and ran to your bedroom where you collapsed on the bed. You were so happy to be at home that you simply fell asleep hugging your pillow, still dressed with the clothes that you wore all day.

On Sunday, you enjoyed being alone and completely free for the first time in forever. Knowing that you would have to go back to work the next day, you had no strength to leave your flat. You watched television in your underwear, laying on the sofa in the most bizarre position that your body allowed you to make. You ate way too much and couldn’t care less about tofu and salads. A lazy Sunday that you regretted on Monday when you had to go back to work.

Thor was back to his same old routine as well. Except that on Wednesday night, he received the visit of an unexpected guest.

“Loki?” He frowned when he opened the front door and saw his brother standing on the threshold.

“Don’t look so surprised.” The young man rolled his eyes.

Thor laughed as he watched his brother look around the corridor. “She’s not home yet.” He smirked while he leaned against the frame.

“I’m not- How did you-” Loki stammered, blushing furiously.

“First visit in five years. I guess I’m not as dumb as you think. Besides there’s nothing more obvious than someone who’s in love.” Thor moved from the frame to let his brother come in.

“I won’t say I’m in love but I do miss her. How do you know she’s not home yet? Oh!” Loki came face to face with Sif dressed only with a large shirt that belonged to Thor. “Sif.” He nodded, greeting her politely while he looked away and the young woman waved before she entered the bedroom.

“She makes a lot of noise.” Thor shook his head after his brother’s eyes opened wide, thinking that he was talking about Sif. “No! I mean Y/n, I don’t know why but everytime she comes home, it’s like she’s trying to be as noisy as possible. You can wait here if you want.” He grinned at his brother who shook his head.

“No, I thought she’d be home. I don’t want to be the creepy man who’s waiting for her.”

“No, you’d rather be the creepy guy who fell in love with his brother’s pretend girlfriend.” Thor snorted as Loki grabbed the doorknob.

“I’m not in love!” Loki shouted.

“Can you shut up?” Sif screamed from the bedroom. “You may not be in love but we are and I, too, make a lot of noise.”

Loki looked at his brother and opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He shuddered and pretended to be about to throw up before he left his brother’s flat. Thor rolled his eyes and joined Sif in the bedroom.

“Was that necessary?” He laughed as he collapsed next to her.

“You know your brother. He doesn’t ramble often, but when he does he is unstoppable.”

“I think you just shut him up.”

“That’s why you should keep me around.” She winked before she moved on top of him.

When you arrived home, you dropped your keys on the floor, while your other hand was busy checking the last text you received from one of your friends. You groaned at your clumsiness and bent over to pick them up but the strap of your bag slid down your shoulder. Your bag fell on the floor in a loud noise while you finally picked up your keys. Thor’s front door opened, he was wearing sweatpants and a tight shirt. He leaned against the frame and smiled.

“I knew it was you.”

“Sorry about that.” You motioned to the bag and keys to apologise.

“Hey! So, um, my brother was here earlier.” He said, looking behind his shoulder and half closed the door as he stepped closer.

“Oh, so he’s still alive.” You said dryly while you unlocked your door.

“What do you mean?”

“I texted him but I’m still waiting for his reply.” You tried to mask the embarrassment on your face. Thor rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of a good excuse for his brother.

“You know, he’s-”

“It’s okay. I mean, we just met.”

“He’s a bit secretive. I don’t think he ever opened up to anyone. You should give him time and…I don’t know… be patient.”

“Wow, thanks for the advice! Should I pay you or something?” You teased Thor who rolled his eyes.

“The first session is free.” He joked while he returned to his flat.

 Friday arrived very slowly, mostly because you kept still thinking that Loki wouldn’t show up at the restaurant. You were still checking your phone every hour to see if he texted you back. Your colleagues were annoyed, you kept rambling about him and how he was suddenly behaving differently. _You met him a week ago, Y/n!_ was the thing you heard most of the time. It was true but after what happened at his parents’ house, you sort of hoped that he would have made an effort… for you. You cursed yourself mentally for being so stupid.

“Oh my God, will you stop looking at your phone?” Your work buddy said when you checked your phone for the third time in ten minutes. It was almost seven and you were going to be late for your date, but you had no idea if Loki would show up. “You’re making me nervous! Go!” You frowned at your colleague’s sudden outburst but you couldn’t pass on the opportunity to leave.

You took your vest and bag, asking if he was serious and he dismissed you with a wave of his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose. You grinned to yourself and pressed the button to call the lift. You climbed into a taxi and looked through the window when you almost reached the restaurant. It was past seven and Loki wasn’t there. You paid the driver, you decided that you would wait for a bit. The sun was low now, a dark orange gradually replaced the blue sky.

You were about to give up when you saw Loki running fast to join you in front of the restaurant. He was wearing a black suit with no tie and a bouquet of flowers that didn’t survive the sprint. Red and pink petals fell on the ground as Loki stopped running. Breathlessly, he presented the shabby bouquet of flowers and frowned when he looked at the flowers.

“Sorry.” He smiled, trying to catch his breath.

“You’re late.” You scolded him, taking the bouquet from his hand.

“I know… I had… work.” He panted while you nodded pensively. “Sorry.” He caught your shoulders and ran his thumbs on your arms.

“It’s fine, you’re forgiven. Let’s go I’m starving!” You turned to enter the restaurant but you were painfully aware that he wasn’t following. You turned around and frowned while he pressed his lips together.

“Actually, I still have a lot of work.” He winced and narrowed his eyes, thinking that you were going to yell or something.

“You could have text me.” You closed your eyes and sighed. “Oh no, you couldn’t because if you could, you would have answered my text.” You spat sarcastically and he opened his eyes to look at you with genuine confusion.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know. I forgot my phone at my parents’ house.”

“Of course you did.” You nodded, not believing his story. “Listen, if you’d rather pretend like nothing happened I’m fine. No pressure.” You stood with your hands on your hips, he was looking at you with round eyes.

“I don’t want to pretend. Not with you.” You could feel the exasperation in his voice. He looked at his watch and sighed. “I have to go back to work. I came here to apologise because I can’t stay with you tonight.”

Your arms were folded against your chest and you sighed forcefully, trying to avoid his eyes.

“Go. You have work to do.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on your cheek before he turned away. He stopped mid-step and turned to face you again.

“Do you want to come with me?”

“You said you’d be working.” You frowned.

“I will.” He smiled and held out a hand that you took, giving him a suspicious stare. “Come on, I think you’ll like it.” He tightened the grip on your hand and you followed him to his car.

He drove for a short while until he parked near an old building. You stepped out of the car slowly, entranced by the magnificent building. Loki chuckled and took your hand to lead you inside the building. Loki showed his badge to the guard who let him in with a nod. You climbed the massive stairs and entered the library. The library was so beautiful and huge, you had to twist to neck to appreciate the architecture of the room.

“I knew you’d like it.” Loki said kissing your knuckles. “Follow me, there’s a lot of work to do.”

The library had a new classification system so the shelves had to be reorganised. As the librarian of this gigantic archive, Loki had to enter the new number placed on the books and put them back to their shelves. He pushed a large cart in front of him and wrote some numbers in a book while you put the books back on the shelves. Sometimes you had to climb the ladder to reach the top of the shelf, giving Loki a nice view of your bare legs. Hours later, the work was done. You were sitting on one of the table in the library, gazing at the shelves while Loki was on the phone.

“I think we’re a great team.” He wrapped his arms around you while he watched the books on the shelves. “Thank you.” He kissed your shoulder tenderly.

“Weirdest date ever.” You chuckled. “Working off the books… in a library.” He laughed and you twisted your neck to look at him.

He cupped your face with his hands, looking into your eyes before his mouth moulded itself over yours, his warm lips were firmly pressed against yours. Your lips moved in perfect harmony with his, tugging at his bottom lip, begging for more. He moaned against your mouth, feeling the butterflies in his stomach come to life as he allowed your tongue to delve into his mouth. He let your tongue dominate his for a while before he moved on the table to face you, never breaking the kiss. As he deepened the kiss, his tongue slowly took over yours, sucking and biting until you were both panting.

The smell of food reached your nostrils and your heard a man clear his throat. You pulled away and saw a delivery man standing in front of the arch, a bag in his hand. Loki slid down the table and paid the guy who winked at him and wished him a great night. _Very subtle,_ you thought.

“I thought you might want to eat.” He put the bag of Italian food on the table.

“We’re eating in the library!” You faked a gasp while he set the food on the table.

“Don’t tell anyone but I plan on doing more than just eat on that table.” He said in a seductive voice that left no doubt to what he planned to do. He smirked devilishly and watched as your eyes opened wide and your thighs squeezed together, trying and failing to hide your arousal.

“Yeah…?” Your voice came out a bit too wobbly. He took advantage of the effects of his provocation on you and rolled up his sleeves while he looked at you with his trademark smirk. “What if I can keep my mouth shut?” You tried to play his little game but your voice betrayed you.

“Luckily for you the library is closed, you can scream all you want.”

“You thing you can make me scream?” You teased back.

“I know I can.” He replied a little bit too arrogantly.

“Prove it!” You moved on the table and he quickly set aside the food.

When you were finally able to eat, the Italian food was cold. You couldn’t care less, you were in sheer bliss as you stuffed your mouth with the much needed food. You decided to completely ignore the fact that you were sitting on a table in the library, dressed only with Loki’s white shirt and eating cold pastas.

“I’m sorry, the food is cold.” He said while he played with his fork.

“So worth it.” You mumbled and playfully hit him with your foot when he mouthed _‘told you’_ with a smug smile.


	10. Three words are enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1912 words. Dammmmn it! I thought I posted this already, sorry… Here we go, last chapter. A bit shorter than usual but it’s a ball of fluff and rough-housing :p

You were in the car with Loki, on your way to the Odinson’s house. It was the end of summer, three months after your last visit and you were about to spend another week with the family. Except that this time you were accompanying the younger brother. The day was exceptionally hot, you were trying to fan yourself with a magazine while the car entered the driveway. Another car drove past yours in the driveway and sped up until it was parked in front of the garage.

“Oh no, I don’t think so.” Loki’s foot hit the gas pedal and the engine roared as the car leaped forward. He stopped the car behind Thor’s red truck.

Loki left his vehicle in a hurry and thanks to his long legs, he easily caught up with Thor who was rushing inside the house. Sif was standing next to the truck, her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose as she watched her boyfriend fight with his brother. She sighed, looking at the sky as she turned around and took the bags out of the boot.

You jumped out of the car and went to close Loki’s door, you rolled your eyes when you saw the brothers fighting in front of the door. Thor’s massive body was pushing Loki’s lean figure out of the way. Your boyfriend was surprisingly strong and managed to stay on his feet as he grabbed Thor shoulders, pulling like crazy. As Loki put all his strength, Thor relaxed his body which made Loki crash against Thor’s back. You heard Thor laugh and while Loki was recovering from the blow, Thor entered the house. Loki followed right after and yelled so loud that birds flew away. Frigga sighed exasperatedly as she left the house, her sons almost knocked her out of the way.

 “I had to listen to his ‘We have to be there first’ during the entire ride.” Sif said as you approached Thor’s car.

“Same.” You snorted as you greeted her with a kiss on both cheeks.

“Is this about the big room?” Frigga inquired, her thumb pointing at the house while she moved to greet the both of you.

You both nodded in agreement while she shook her head, a small smile crept over her lips. You heard Thor’s glaring laugh and the three of you looked in the direction of the house. Seconds later Thor came out of the house, he raised his fists up in a sign of victory.

“Gotta act like he did well.” Sif whispered as she approached her boyfriend. “Great job, babe!” She congratulated Thor who seemed really proud of himself.  Frigga turned to look at you.

“I’m happy to see you again, Y/n.” Frigga said with a sincere hug.

You hugged her back before you returned to Loki’s car and opened the boot to take the bags. Frigga was walking towards Loki who welcomed his mother in his arms. She sympathetically patted his back and smoothed his hair before she released him.

“Better luck next time.” Thor joked as he bumped his fist on his brother’s arm.

“You cheated.” Loki rubbed his arm.

“Oh, looks who’s talking! You cheat all the time! You just sulk because you couldn’t pull your usual sneaky tricks. Face it, I’m faster than you.” Thor said as he wrapped his strong arm around Sif’s shoulders. He flexed his biceps to emphasise his words and laughed.

Loki was about to reply but Frigga sensed that whatever it was, he was going to say something inappropriate. She shushed him and he rolled his eyes. When he saw you alone near the car, trying to deal with the luggage alone, Loki rushed to your side.

“I’m sorry, I failed you.” He said with a stern look as he took your bag.

“Are you serious? It’s just a room.” You laughed and stroked his arm.

“Now we have to sleep in the small room. God, I hate that room.”

“I don’t care about the room, as long as I’m not sleeping with Thor again.” You shivered in the sun when you remembered the couple of nights you had to spend with the older brother and his massive arms hitting your body in his agitated sleep.

“To tell you the truth, I really hope you won’t leave this week with my brother.” Loki joked with a bitter laugh.

“Yeah, that’d be awkward.” You turned around and tangled your arms around his neck. You stepped on your tiptoes to be at eye level and pressed your lips on his. “But I think you’re stuck with me.”

“Mine and mine alone.” He purred in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

He returned the kiss, hands cupping your face as you pressed your hands on his chest. You had been with Loki for three months and so far everything was going perfectly. He was a bit moody sometimes but you already knew that Loki was a stubborn man. You spent most of your time at his place, Loki didn’t like to visit you. Most of the time Thor would make comments on how you met and that was something that Loki would rather forget.

Loki was reticent to spend the last week of summer at his parents’ house. You reminded him that it was were you met and that it would be nice to meet his family for real and be yourself rather than Thor’s pretend girlfriend. He reluctantly agreed and his mother was overjoyed.

Everything was going so well, Thor and Sif were back together for good. After a long conversation, you realised that Fandral was right, Sif was a great woman and over the past three months she proved herself to be a great friend.

“Actually, I prefer the small room.” You said, breaking the kiss and Loki looked you like you were crazy. “Yeah, it’s more intimate. I’ll have to sleep close to you or I’ll fall from the bed.” You said, pressing your body against his and he wrapped his arms around your back.

You pressed your head against his chest, his heart was beating fast. Most of the time, he tried to hide his feelings from you. Perhaps he thought that you would laugh at him. Loki was shy when it came to share his feelings, you knew he really cared about you but he was always avoiding the subject. So when you heard his heart pounding in his chest as you hugged him tightly, it made you smile. He might not like to talk about it but his body language was clear.

“I think I prefer the small room too.” His chin pressed against the top of your head.

“Get a room!” You heard a loud voice call from behind Loki. You both turned around without breaking the hug and saw Thor walking closer to you. “Preferably the smaller room.” Thor laughed as his slapped his brother’s back. The stroke made you sigh against your boyfriend’s chest and he looked at you with concern before you shook your head. His fingers carded through your hair while Thor returned to the house laughing at his own stupid gag.

“At least he’s proud of himself.” You chuckled as you heard Sif scroll Thor, telling him to stop bothering you.

Loki kissed the top of your head and pulled away from you. He snapped his fingers and looked at you with a small smirk, he was up to something. You smiled back, curious to see what he had in mind.

“Wait I have something for you!” Loki said while he looked for something in the boot of the car.

Before you could turn around, he pressed something on the top of your head. Then he moved your hair aside and kissed the side of your neck from behind.

“I love that colour on you.” He whispered in your ear as he closed his arms around you, plating kisses along your jawline. You tapped the top of your head and grinned before you picked the hat to inspect it closer. It was a dark green floppy hat with a golden braid. You turned around and pressed your lips on his cheeks.

“Thank you! It’s gorgeous.” You put the hat back on your head.

“When I saw it, I immediately thought of you.” He whispered, his lips nibbled the lobe of your ear. “At least this time you won’t get heat stroke.”

“Hey, I thought about it and it might be part of the reason why I thought you were cute.” You teased, turning your head to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Oh really? I wouldn’t risk breaking the illusion then. Take it off then.” He joked as he tried to take the hat off your head but you anticipated it and held the hat with one hand.

While one of his hands fought playfully with yours to take the hat off your head, the other snaked down your back, holding you still. You wriggled in his arms and caught his shoulder to steady yourself while you laughed heartily. With a large smile, he leaned and captured your lips in a sweet passionate kiss. He hungrily pressed his lips against yours like you were about to slip away. Your hands rested flat on his lean chest, forgetting about the hat as your back slowly pressed against the car.

He broke the kiss after a minute, resting his forehead against yours as his fingers traced patterns on your cheek. You looked at him through your lashes and saw a big happy smile that lingered on his lips. Your eyes closed while his nose brushed against yours and you chortled.

“I love you.” He said for the first time. Your eyes shot open and you pushed him away just to observe the look on his face.

“You do?” You asked with a wide smile and a frown.

“I do.” He assured with a nod, his arms still around your waist. You threw yourself on him, catching him off guard when you pressed your mouth hard against his. He moaned quietly as he tried to regain his balance.

“I love you.” You replied against his mouth and felt him smile into the kiss as you reciprocated.

You saw someone observing you at the corner of your eyes and pulled away to see Frigga, leaning against the porch with a bright smile on her face. Your face started to burn with embarrassment when you understood that she witnessed everything so you simply waved at her, which startled Loki who turned around to see his mother wave back at you.

“Awkward.” You sang in his ear before he moved to take the bags.

He walked back to the house and kissed his mother on the cheek before he entered the house. Frigga stayed under the porch and you closed the car before you joined her. You tucked a strand of hair behind your ear before you smiled at her.

“Everything fine?” She pressed her lips together, hiding her smile.

“Great!” You replied with a big smile. She linked her arm with yours before she led you inside the house.

“At least this time I’m sure you’re dating one of my boys.” She smirked before she released your arm and chuckled lightly.

You stopped mid step, mouth agape as you stood speechless on the threshold, you closed the door behind you, shaking your head with a large smile. The week started much better than the previous one.


End file.
